ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi conferred Pakistan’s civil awards on 135 citizens as well as foreign nationals on Pakistan Day, in recognition of their excellence and gallantry in their respective fields.

Awards were conferred at an investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr here, also attended by Cabinet members, diplomats and family members of recipients of awards.

President distributed civil awards in 10 categories including Nishan-i-Imtiaz, Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Quaid-Azam, Sitara-i-Shujaat, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Presidential Award for Pride of Performance, Tamgha-i-Shujaata and Tamgha-i-Khidmat. President conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz on Sartaj Aziz, Mir Hasil Bazinjo and late Justice (retd) Rana Bhagwandas for their public service; Ahmed Ali Chagla (art), late Sufi Ghulam Tabassum (poetry), Muhammad Qavi Khan ( (drama, film) and Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan (sports). Hilal-i-Pakistan award was given to Ambassador (retd) Robin Lynn Raphel for her services to Pakistan. President conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz award on Khawaja Abdul Hayee (education), Engineer Professor Ahmed Farooq Bazai (academic), Dr Talat Naseer Pasha (science), Hakeem Rizwan Hafeez (health), Dr Raja Ali Raza (engineering), Raees Ahmed (arts), late Amjad Islam Amjad (arts), late Arif Nizami, Mujibur Rehman Shami and Altaf Hassan Qureshi (journalism); Bilquees Bano Edhi (social services), Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, late Maroof Afzal, Senator Talha Mahmood, Capt (retd) Sher Alam Mehsud, Justice (retd) Fazal Karim, Sultan Ali Alana and Hilalur Rehman (public service); Dr Gohar Ejaz (philanthropy) and Khawaja Masood Akhtar (sports exports). He conferred Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam award on Dr James M. Shera for his services to Pakistan.

Sitara-i-Shujaat award was given to Malik Muhammad Hassan, late Malik Gangrai, Malik Shumali Khan, late Fiza Tariq Malik, Raja Mustafa Ali, Muhammad Afzal Sheikh and Sajid Kiani (Gallantry) and Mansoor Ahmed Khan (services to Pakistan).

President awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz to Muhammad Afzal Javed and Zafarulah Khan (services to Pakistan), Dr Saeed Akhtar (medicine), late Humayun Khan (agriculture), Dr Sharif Malik (medicine), Mahfoozur Rehman (education), Fakhar-e-Alam (hosting), late Saghar Siddiqui (poetry), late Shama Khalid (art), late Ziauddin, Javed Chaudhry and Nadeem Malik (journalism), Dr Anees Ahmed and Maulana Hanif Jalandhari (religious scholar) and Waqar Ahmed Malik (public service). Among others who were also conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz award included Syed Murataz Mahmood (public service), Imdadullah Bosal (public service) and Mirza Ishtiaq Baig (social service), Lt Gen Noman Zakaria, Major General Muhammad Idris Dastgir, Brigadier Salman Rashid Hussain, Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Asim Ali Khan, Samina Chagali, Dr Amir Malik, Tahir Rai and Riazuddin Sheikh (public service); Behroz Sabzwari and Tariq Mahmood (art).

President awarded Presidential Award for Pride of Performance to Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (medicine), Anjum Shaheen (acting), Taskeen Zafar, Syed Shamoon Hashmi and late Prof. Jahazeb Niaz Khan (art), Shahida and Irfan Mehsud (sports) and Tika Khan and Hafiz Tahir Khalil (journalism).

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 24 2023

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