ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday announced conferment of Pakistan’s national awards on 105 Pakistanis and foreigners, in recognition of their services, excellence and sacrifices in their respective fields.
The announcement was made in connection with Pakistan’s 77th Independence Day celebrations. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on March 23, 2025.
According to an announcement made by the President’s Secretariat, the president would confer Nishan-i-Pakistan on the late former president and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in recognition of his public services.
The president announced Hilal-i-Imtiaz for Olympian Arshad Nadeem, who recently bagged a gold medal in Paris Olympics, and Sitara-i-Imtiaz for mountaineer Murad Sadpara in the sports category.
President Zardari conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz posthumously on the late Nasir Kazmi for his services in the field of literature and Hilal-i-Pakistan on Saudi Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Al Saud for his services to Pakistan.
The president conferred Nishan-i-Khidmat on Sultan Ali Allana, Hilal-i-Shujaat Gallantry (posthumously) on Sub-Inspector Taimur Shehzad, Sepoy Muhammad Asif, SP Muhammad Aijaz Khan, DSP Sardar Hussain, DSP Allama Iqbal, Muhammad Farooq, Additional SHO Adnan Afridi, Allah Rakhio Nandwani, Constable Jahanzeb and Constable Irshad Ali.
President Zardari conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz on 11 personalities including Olympian Arshad Nadeem, Amir Hafeez Ibrahim in the field of Science and Technology, Sadia Rasheed in the field of Education, Dr Shahryar in the field of Medicine, Dr Zaryab Setna in the field of Medicine, Javed Jabbar in the field of literature, Umer Farooq (overseas Pakistani) in public service, Capt (retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha in public service, Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah in public service, Khawaja Anwar Majeed in social service and Hussain Dawood for his services as a philanthropist.
President Zardari conferred Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam on Fu Zhiheng of China and Mohammad Saif Al Suwaaidi of Abu Dhabi for their services to Pakistan. He conferred Sitara-i-Pakistan on Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al Kassabi and Engineer Abdullah Al-Swaha of Saudi Arabia for their services to Pakistan.
The president conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz on 28 persons including Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali in the field of Science (Agriculture), Sardar Muhammad Aftab Ahmed Khan in the field of Science (Livestock), Dr Suleman Shahabuddin in he filed of education, Dr Ziaul Haq in the field of Education, Syed Azhar Hussain Abidi in the field of Education, Dr Samreen Hussain in the field of Education, Dr Hamid Areeq Sarwar in the field of public service, Mian Aziz Ahmed (AZNIC) in social services, Collin David in the field of Art (Painting), Ms Salma Awan in literature (novelist, travelogue and short story writer), Ms Muneeza Shamsie in literature and critic, Zafar Waqar Taj in literature (poetry), Murad Sadpara (late) in sports (mountaineer), Dr Rubab Shah in public service, Syed Iran Ali Shah in public service (highest taxpayer), Nizamuddin Feroz, highest taxpayer, Imtiaz Hussain highest taxpayer, Adnan Niaz highest taxpayer, Zahid Ahmed Garib (exporter), Syed Asad Hussain Zaidi (exporter), Waqar Uddin Sayed in public service, Ayaz Khan in public service, Ahmed Ishaque Jehangir in public service, Irfan Nawaz Memon in public service, Jamil Ahmed in public service, Sana Hashwani in social services, Safinaz Muneer in social services, Humaid H Lakhani (late) philanthropy.
In recognition of their services, nine personalities were conferred President’s Pride of Performance award including Dr Abdul Rasheed Khan in the field of Education, Barkat Shah in the field of Education, Aniqa Bano in the field of Education, Hamid Rana in the field of Arts (TV/Stage/Film artist and writer), Sheeba Arshad (Sheeba Hassan) in the field of Art (TV/Stage actress), Fariha Pervez (singer), Naveed Ahmed Bhatti in the field of Art (Calligraphy), Ambarin Hasib in Literature and Amir Ishfaq Sports (Blind Cricket).
The president conferred Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam on Haydar Qurbonov of Tajikistan and Dr Christine Schmotzer of Germany for their services to Pakistan.
Tamgha-i-Pakistan was conferred on mountaineer Lukas Woerle, Dr Aurore Dither, Prof Valeria Fiorani Piacentini and Agostino Da Polenza.
Tamgha-i-Shujaat Gallantry was announced for Malik Mahmood Jan Shaheed, Saeed Khan, Samiullah Shaheed, Sahib Khan and Dr Shafi Muhammad Bizenjo.
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz was announced for Barrister Zafarullah (Religious Scholar), Nadir Khan Magsi in the field of Sports (Racing), Dr Sarah Qureshi in the field of Engineering Aerospace, Dr Rafiuddin in the field of Engineering (Metallurgy), Dr Usman Qamar in the field of Engineering (Data Science & AI), Dr Akif Ullah Khan in the field of Medicine (Nuclear Medicine), Dr Syed Abid Mehdi Kazmi in the field of Medicine, Ikramullah Khan in the field of Medicine, Bakhtiar Ahmed (Bakhtiar Khattak) in the field of Art (Singing), Syed Jawad Hussain Jafri in Literature (Poetry), Ahmed Shakeel Butt in Sports (Hockey), Maqsood Ahmed Sports (Squash), Rehman Ishtiaq Sports (Kabbadi), Arshad Aziz Malik in Journalism, Syed Shakeel Shah in public service, Ashhad Jawad in public service, Rubab Sikandar in public service, Muhammad Yousuf Khan in public service, Cardinal Joseph Coutts in public service, Rehan Mehtab Chawla in public service, Rear Admiral Tanvir in public service, Amin Muhammad Lakhani in public service.
Tamgha-i-Quaid-i-Azam to Zhang Baozhong and Xinmin Lu of China for services to Pakistan. Tamgha-i-Khidmat to Ms Diana McArthur for services to Pakistan.