Recognizing the services of Pakistanis and foreigners in their respective fields, the government of Pakistan has conferred national awards on 104 citizens, which will be presented to them on the 23rd of March next year.
The awards were announced on the occasion of Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day, and are being conferred to individuals who excelled in the fields of science and technology, literature, philanthropy, sports, business, education, medicine and arts, besides others.
The most notable among these is Pakistan’s former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was conferred the Nishan-i-Pakistan to recognize his services to the public.
The second most notable is Arshad Nadeem, the famed Olympian, who recently secured a gold medal in the Paris Olympics. He was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz. Similarly, Murad Sadpara, the mountaineer, who recently passed away after scaling the Broad Peak, has been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz. Saudi Prince Abdulziz bin Salman Al Saud has also been awarded the Hilal-i-Pakistan.
In the field of literature, Nasir Kazmi has been awarded the Nishan-i-Imtiaz, Javed Jabbar has been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Salman Awan, Zafar Waqar Taj and Muniza Shamsi have been awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Syed Jawad Hussain Jafari has been awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and Ambreen Haseeb has been given the Pride of Performance Award.
Recognizing the services of individuals in the fields of science, Amir Hafeez Ibrahim has been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Aftab Ahmed Khan Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and Dr. Sara Qureshi, Dr. Rafiuddin and Professor Dr. Usman Qamar have been awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.
For their services in education, Sadia Rasheed has been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz; Dr. Suleman Shahabuddin, and Syed Azhar Hussain Abidi have been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and Barkat Shah, Abdul Rasheed Kakar and Aneeqa Bano have been awarded the Presidential Pride of Performance Award.
In the field of medicine, Hilal-i-Imtiaz has been awarded to Dr. Shahryar and Dr. Zaryab Setna, while Tamgha-i-Imtiaz has been awarded to Dr. Akifullah Khan, Dr. Syed Abid Mehdi Kazmi and Ikramullah Khan.
For their contributions to arts, Collin David has been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz while Arshad Aziz Malik, Bakhtiar Ahmed and Barrister Zafarullah have been given the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, and Fariha Pervaiz, Hamid Rana, Shiba Arshad and Naveed Ahmed Bhatti are being given the Pride of Performance Award.
For excelling in sports, Tamgha-i-Imtiaz has been awarded to Maqsood Ahmed, Amad Shakeel Butt, Rehman Ishtiaq and Mir Nadir Khan Magsi whereas Amir Ishfaq has been given the Presidential Pride of Performance Award.
Moreover, Mian Aziz Ahmed, Hunaid Lakhani, Sana Hashwani, Safinaz Munir have been conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz while Khwaja Anwer Majeed and Hussain Dawood have been given the Hilal-i-Imtiaz.
The president has further awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz to Syed Imran Ali Shah, Nazimuddin Feroz, Imtiaz Hussain, Adnan Niaz, Zahid Ahmed Ghareeb and Syed Asad Hussain Zaidi, Panjgur Deputy Commissioner Zakir Hussain Baloch, Dr. Rubaba Khan Buledi, Dr. Hamid Attiq Sarwar, Waqasuddin Syed, Jameel Ahmed, Ayaz Khan, Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir, and Irfan Nawaz Memon. Syed Shakeel Shah, Ashhad Jawad, Rubab Sikandar, Muhammad Yousuf Khan, Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Rehan Mehtab Chawla, Rear Admiral Tanvir and Amir Mahmood Lakhani have been awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.
Similarly, Hilal-i-Imtiaz has been awarded to Captain (Retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha, Dr. Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah and Umar Farooq. Sub-Inspector Taimur Shehzad Shaheed, Sepoy Muhammad Asif Shaheed, SP Muhammad Aijaz Khan, DSP Sardar Hussain Shaheed, DSP Allama Iqbal Shaheed, LHC Muhammad Farooq Shaheed, Additional SHO Adnan Afridi Shaheed, Allah Rakhio Nandwani, Constable Jahanzeb and Constable Irshad Ali Shaheed has been awarded the Hilal-i-Shujaat. The president has also awarded Sitara-i-Shujaat to Malik Sabz Ali Shaheed and Captain (Retd) Hamza Anjum, while Tamgha-i-Shujaat has been awarded to Malik Mahmood Jan Shaheed, Saeed Khan, Samiullah Shaheed, Sahib Khan and Dr Shafi Muhammad Bazenjo.
The president has also awarded Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam to Mohammad Saif Al Suwaidi, Sitara-i-Pakistan to Majid bin Abdullah Al Kassabi and Engineer Abdullah Al-Swaha, and Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam to Haydar Qurbonov and Dr. Christine Schmotzer. Similarly, Tamgha-i-Pakistan has been awarded to Mountaineer Lukas Woerle, Dr. Aurore Dither, Prof. Valeria Fiorani Piacentini and Agostino Da Polenza, whereas Tamgha-i-Quaid-e-Azam has been awarded to Zhang Baozhong and Xinmiin Liu, and Tamgha-i-Khidmat has been granted to Diana McArthur.
Chinese dignitaries
In recognition of their contributions to the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and China, the prestigious Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam has been awarded to two Chinese dignitaries – Ambassador Sha Zukang and Ambassador Nong Rong.
Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, on behalf of the president of Pakistan, conferred the awards to the dignitaries during a ceremony held in Beijing.
