ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday conferred military awards on the martyred armed forces personnel and those who had shown gallantry in safeguarding the country.

The president conferred the honours at a ceremony held at the Presidency. It was attended by members of the federal cabinet, the services chiefs and relatives of serving and martyred officers.

He gave away gallantry awards to a total of 74 armed forces personnel, including 21 martyrs whose awards were received by their family members.

Wing Commander Muhammad Noman Ali Khan, who shot down an Indian Air Force aircraft that attempted to enter Pakistan’s airspace in February 2019, was conferred on the prestigious Sitara-i-Jurrat.

In his message, the president said Pakistan would never compromise on its sovereignty and security, making it clear that any misadventure by the enemy would be dealt with severely.

President Alvi says Pakistan will never compromise on its sovereignty, security

He expressed satisfaction over achieving self-reliance in the defence field and said: “We have thwarted external aggression, successfully defeated terrorism and extremism, and now we are on the path towards economic prosperity.”

He added: “The day is a reminder of the spirit and valour of Pakistan’s armed forces and the nation through which they thwarted the evil designs of the enemy on this day, 55 years ago.

“The nation saluted the martyrs as well as their families for their fortitude as they set a great example of patriotism by sacrificing their loved ones for the defence of the country.

“The spirit of September 1965 still lives in our hearts and I can proudly say that because of this, we have been successful in many testing times. Our armed forces’ professional excellence, combat readiness and above all their unwavering faith in Allah have made Pakistan invincible.”

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Asim Saleem Bajwa also took to Twitter to pay tribute to the martyrs. “The whole nation stands behind [the armed forces] with full trust. Let’s not forget ours are the best and only forces in the world to have won war on terror so comprehensively,” he said.

Dr Alvi presented gallantry awards of Sitara-i-Jurrat (SJ), Sitara-i-Basalat (SBt) and Tamgha-i-Jurrat (TJ) to the family members of 21 martyrs.

Following are the names of those who have received military awards:

Wing Commander Muhammed Umar Chaudhry (SBt), Capt Junaid Irfan Abbasi (SBt), SM Munawar Khan (SBt), Subedar Munir Ahmed (SBt), Naib Subedar Nazir Ahmed (SBt), Havaldar Engineer Muhammad Asif (SBt), Havaldar Abdul Naseer (SBt), Havaldar Ameer Wali Shah (SBt), Havaldar Abdul Rehman (SBt), L/Havaldar Abdul Razzaq (SBt), NK Saleemullah (SBt), LNK Nazir Khan (SBt), LNK Razaullah (SBt), SEP Aamir Khan (SBt), SEP Fakhar Abbas (SBt), SEP Ramz Ali (SBt), SEP Samiullah Baig (SBt), SEP Anwar Jan (SBt), SEP M. Waris Shahban (SBt), SEP Mir Alam (SBt) and SEP Imdadullah Khan (SBt).

Others who received awards are: Air Vice Marshal Zaffar Aslam (SBt), Capt Syed Ailya Hasan (SBt), Group Capt Rana Ilyas Hassan (SBt), Group Capt Faheem Ahmed Khan and Wing Leader Dr Hasan Mehmood Siddiqui (TJ), Wing Commander Muhammad Noman Ali Khan (SJ) and Lt Commander Humair Iftikhar (SBt).

Hilal-i-Imtiaz Military (HI-M): Lt Gen Khawar Rahman, Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar, Air Marshal Javad Saeed, Air Marshal Muhammad Haseeb Paracha, Air Marshal Muhammad Zahid Mahmood, Maj Gen Naveed Safdar, Maj Gen Muhammad Tahir Khadim, Maj Gen Aslam Khan, Rear Admiral Imran Ahmad, Maj Gen Ammar Reza Hamdani, Maj Gen Irfan Ali Sheikh, Maj Gen Waseem Ahmed, Maj Gen Imran Fazal, Maj Gen Syed Raza Jaffar, Maj Gen Tahir Iqbal, Maj Gen Malik Muhammad Masud, Maj Gen Muhammad Ayub Ahsan Bhatti, Air Vice Marshal Ahmad Hassan, Maj-Gen Hassan Akhtar Kayani, Rear Admiral Muhammad Shuaib, Rear Admiral Zakaur Rehman, Rear Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Maj Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, Maj Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Maj Gen Kanwar Adnan Ahmed Khan, Maj Gen Chaudhry Sarfraz Ali, Maj Gen Muhammad Ali, Maj Gen Muhammad Raza Jalil, Maj Gen Tahir Gulzar Malik, Maj Gen Saqib Mehmood Malik, Maj Gen Muhammad Imtiaz Khan, Maj Gen Muhammad Asim Iqbal, Maj Gen Muhammad Aneequr Rehman Malik, Maj Gen Shahid Mahmood, Maj Gen Muhammad Asim Malik, Maj Gen Rafiqur Rehman, Maj Gen Inam Haidar Malik, Maj Gen Muhammad Asghar, Maj Gen Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Maj Gen Nauman Zakria, Maj Gen Khalid Saeed, Maj Gen Sarfraz Muhammad, Maj Gen Shahid Nazir, Rear Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami, Rear Admiral Abdul Basit Butt and Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Zahoor Faisal.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2020