ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has conferred civil awards on 135 national and foreign citizens on Pakistan Day in recognition of their excellence and gallantry in their respective fields. The awards were conferred at an investiture ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Thursday.

The awards were conferred on politicians including Sartaj Aziz, late Mir Hasil Bizenjo and late Justice Rana Bhagwandas. Ahmed Ali Chagla, Muhammad Qavi Khan, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan were awarded for their services in the fields of arts and sports.

Raees Ahmed and late Amjad Islam Amjad (arts): late Arif Nizami, Mujibur Rehman Shami, Javed Chaudhry, Nadeem Malik, Amir Ilyas Rana, late Ziauddin and Altaf Hassan Qureshi (journalism); Bilquees Bano Edhi (social services); Muhammad Ramazan Chhipa and Dr James M. Shera were also awarded.

Dr Saeed Akhtar and Dr Sharif Malik (medicine), Fakhr-i-Alam (hosting), late Saghar Siddiqui (poetry), Maulana Hanif Jalandhari (religious scholar), Lt Gen Noman Zakaria, Sindh Governor Kamran Tesori, Tahir Rai, Behroz Sabzwari and Tariq Mahmood were also among the recipients.

Jehan Ara (IT), Bisma Maroof (sports), Cristina Von Sperling Afridi, Dr Shahid Masood (medicine) also received awards.

Several recipients shared pictures and videos on social media while receiving the award.

Squash legend Jahangir Khan wrote: “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of the hard work you already did.”

“I want to share this lesson with the youth, never give up! I dedicate this award to the resilient people of Pakistan, my fans & everyone who was part of my journey,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023