The Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP) achieved a major milestone at its recent annual fundraising dinner held at Lady Margaret Hall, securing funding for three new graduate scholarships and a £100,000 contribution to its endowment fund, all dedicated to expanding access for Pakistan’s brightest students to study at the University of Oxford.
Interloop Ltd, one of Pakistan’s largest exporters, pledged to sponsor a scholarship for three consecutive years, represented by entrepreneur and philanthropist Musadaq Zulqarnain. Adding to this momentum, British Pakistani donors Munir Hussain, owner of one of the UK’s largest food chains, and real estate developer Aneel Musarrat committed to fully funding OPP scholarships for the next five years.
These scholarships will enable high-achieving Pakistani students to pursue advanced degrees in fields such as computer science, mathematics, genome medicine, and theoretical physics at Oxford, helping bridge the academic opportunity gap for talented youth from underrepresented regions.
To further support OPP’s long-term sustainability, Professor Sarwar Khawaja donated £100,000 to its endowment fund, underscoring a growing commitment within the diaspora to invest in the country’s intellectual future.
The dinner event was sponsored by Oxford alumni Dr Omer Suleman and Shamyl Malik, co-founders of fintech startup Haruko, and brought together academics, philanthropists, and supporters dedicated to driving educational progress in Pakistan.
Since its inception, the OPP has disbursed nearly £1 million to support 52 students from provinces like Sindh, Balochistan, and South Punjab. Programme founders emphasized the urgency of scaling access to world-class education in a country where over two-thirds of the population is under 30.
