ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday conferred Pakistan’s highest civil awards on a number of Pakistani citizens as well as foreign nationals in recognition of their distinction, excellence, contributions, and show of valour in different fields, including Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Fawad Hasan Fawad, Qaim Ali Shah, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

The awards were announced on Aug 14, 2023.

In a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the president conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz on Muhammad Hafeez Qureshi (late) (nuclear science), Iftikhar Hussain Arif (literature poetry), Islahuddin Siddiqui (hockey), Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, senior politician Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, former caretaker finance minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar and Air Marshal (retired) Najib Akhtar for their outstanding services in the public service category.

President Zardari also awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz to Brig Syed Sarfraz Ali (late) (strategic planning and development), Prof Dr Shahid Mahmood Baig (science), Prof Dr Mukhtar Ahmed (education), Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan (education), Prof Dr Muhammad Umar (education/medical sciences), Rahat Ali Khan (arts — qawwali/singing), Mohammad Ahmed Shah (arts — culture), Mehmood Ahmed Tahir Bhatti (film direction and fashion designing), Muhammad Anwar Masood (literature and poetry), Zahid Malik (late) (journalism), Dr Muhammad Amjad Saqib (social services), and Prof Dr Adil Najam (education).

Similarly, Ahmad Irfan Aslam, Raja Naeem Akbar, Lt-Gen Muhammad Akram Khan, Brig Atif Rafique, Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Syed Tariq Fatemi, Tariq Bajwa, Tariq Mahmood Pasha, Shahid Khan, Sibtain Fazal Haleem, Capt (retd) Zahid Saeed, Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Mufti Abdul Shakoor (late), Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Javaid Aslam, Fawad Hasan Fawad, and Dr Usman Anwar were also awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz for their services in the public service.

Iftikhar Arif, Shamshad Akhtar, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Qaim Ali Shah and Fawad Hasan Fawad recognised for their outstanding services

Recipients of Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam were Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, Sultan Bin Abdul Rehman, Khalifa Bin Jassim Al-Kuwari, Yong Ye, Knut Ostby, Philippe Steinmetz, Dr Sebastian Paust, Michal Rossman, and Samantha Power.

The president also awarded Sitara-i-Shujaat to Tariq Mahmood, Muhammad Aamir Naseem, Majid Saleem Malik, Akhtar Hayat Khan, Lt-Cdr (retd) Muqaddas Haider, Muhammad Younas, Nizam Ullah (Shaheed), Rahat Saleem (Shaheed), Ghulam Abbas Laghari (Shaheed), Abdul Latif Nok (Shaheed), Muha­mmad Saeed Ahmed (Shaheed), Ajmal Masih (late), Muhammad Ramzan (Shaheed), Shams Ullah (Shah­eed), Muhammad Sohrab (Sha­heed), Asad Ullah Khan (Sha­heed), Israr Muhammad, Zia Ullah Khan, Mir Zubair Mahmood, and Muhammad Adnan.

Mushtaq Ahmed Sukehra was awarded Hilal-i-Shujaat for gallantry.

Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz include Shama Hafeez, Qari Hafiz Buzurg Shah Al Azhari, Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Faakhir Mehmood, Jharna Basak Shabnam, Naila Kiani, Shoaib Anwar Malik, Fahad Haroon, Muhammad Sarwar Gondal, Dr Kazim Niaz, Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Foruqui, Farhan Faruqui, Dr Muhammad Farooque Hassan, Duraid Qureshi, Yasir Malik and Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo.

Farrah Mahmood Rana, Suhail Sarwar Sultan Warraich, Lt-Gen Ahsan Gulrez and Lt-Col Junaid Ali Zulfiqar received President Pride of Performance award.

Receipients of Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam were Husein EF Kavazovich and Salma Salman Zahid. Tamgha-i-Shujaat were awarded to Muhammad Usman, Syed Amer Akhtar and Muhammad Bilal Riaz Burki.

Recepients of Tamgha-i-Imtiaz include Dr Muhammad Usman Akram, Pro Dr Rizwan Taj, Waqar Maqsood Satti, Fahad Saleem Malik, Prof Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, Syed Feroz Alam Shah, Dr Farooq Adil, Rashid Mahmood, Aisha Khan, Muhammad Tanvir Butt, Faisal Saddique Khan, Dr Rizwan Taj, Prof Dr Riazwana Chaudhri, Muhammad Zubair Shaheen, Murlidhar Dawani, Sarah Ahmed, Dr Khalid Bin Shaheen and Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, Dr Manzoor Ahmed late, Allah Ditta Abbasi late and Shamim Ashraf Khawaja late.Abdullah Al Matahari was awarded Sitara-i-Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2024