President Asif Ali Zardari announced the conferment of Pakistan’s national awards on 104 Pakistanis and foreigners, in recognition of their services, excellence and sacrifices in their respective fields. The awards were announced on Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day which will be presented to the awardees at an investiture ceremony on March 23, 2025.
The president conferred the awards to individuals in the fields including science and engineering, education, medicine, arts, literature, sports, social services and philanthropy, entrepreneurs, taxpayers and exporters, public service, gallantry, and services to Pakistan.
The president conferred Nishan-i-Pakistan award on the former president and prime minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed in recognition of his public services. He announced Hilal-i-Imtiaz award 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 late Nasir Kazmi for services in the field of literature and Hilal-i-Pakistan on Saudi Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Al Saud for his services to Pakistan.
In recognition of their excellence in the fields of science, the president conferred Hilal-i-imtiaz on Amir Hafeez Ibrahim, Sitara-i-Imtiaz on Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali and Sardar Muhammad Aftab Ahmed Khan; and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz on Dr Sara Qureshi, Dr Rafiuddin and Professor Dr Usman Qamar. In the education field, Sadia Rasheed was bestowed Hilal-i-Imtiaz; Sitara-i-Imtiaz was announced for Dr Suleman Shahabuddin, and Syed Azhar Hussain Abidi, and Presidential Pride of Performance award for Barkat Shah, Abdul Rasheed Kakar and Aneeqa Bano. The president announced Hilal-i-Imtiaz for Dr Shahryar and Dr Dr. Zaryab Setna, and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for Dr Akifullah Khan, Dr Syed Abid Mehdi Kazmi and Ikramullah Khan for their contributions to the field of medicine. Similarly, Collin David was bestowed with Sitara-i-Imtiaz in the field of arts; Arshad Aziz Malik, Bakhtiar Ahmed and Barrister Zafarullah were conferred Tamgha-i-Imtiaz; while Fariha Pervaiz, Hamid Rana, Shiba Arshad and Naveed Ahmed Bhatti to receive Pride of Performance Award. For their contribution to the field of literature, the president conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz on Javed Jabbar; Sitara-i-Imtiaz on Salman Awan, Zafar Waqar Taj and Muniza Shamsi; Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for Syed Jawad Hussain Jafari and Pride of Performance Award for Ambreen Haseeb. Besides, Maqsood Ahemd, Amad Shakeel Butt, Rehman Ishtiaq and Mir Nadir Khan Magsi were bestowed with Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and Amir Ishfaq with Presidential Pride of Performance Award for their excellence in the sports field. President Zardari conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz on Mian Aziz Ahmed, Hunaid Lakhani, Sana Hashwani, Safinaz Munir; and Hilal-i-Imtiaz on Khwaja Anver Majeed and Hussain Dawood. The taxpayers and exporters who were conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz included Syed Imran Ali Shah, Nazimuddin Feroz, Imtiaz Hussain, Adnan Niaz, Zahid Ahmed Ghareeb and Syed Asad Hussain Zaidi. The president also announced the conferment of Sitara-i-Shujaat on Panjgur Deputy Commissioner Zakir Hussain Baloch who was recently martyred in a terror attack in Mastung; Hilal-i-Imtiaz on Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha, Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah and Umar Farooq. In the public service field, Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi, Dr Hamid Attiq Sarwar, Waqasuddin Syed, Jameel Ahmed, Ayaz Khan, Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir, and Irfan Nawaz Memon were conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz while Tamgha-i-Imtiaz was announced for Syed Shakeel Shah, Ashhad Jawad, Rubab Sikandar, Muhammad Yousuf Khan, Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Rehan Mehtab Chawla, Rear Admiral Tanvir and Amir Mahmood Lakhani. To recognise their gallantry, the president conferred Hilal-i-Shujaat posthumously on Sub Inspector Taimur Shehzad Shaheed, Sepoy Muhammad Asif Shaheed, SP Muhammad Aijaz Khan, DSP Sardar Hussain Shaheed, DSP Allama Iqbal Shaheed, LHC Muhammad Farooq Shaheed, Additional SHO Adnan Afridi Shaheed, Allah Rakhio Nandwani, Constable Jahanzeb and Constable Irshad Ali Shaheed. Malik Sabz Ali Shaheed and Captain (Retd) Hamza Anjum were conferred Sitara-i-Shujaat and Tamgha-i-Shujaat was announced for Malik Mahmood Jan Shaheed, Saeed Khan, Samiullah Shaheed, Sahib Khan and Dr Shafi Muhammad Bazenjo.
For their services to Pakistan, President Zardari conferred national awards for foreigners including Hilal-i-Pakistan for Saudi Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman al Saud; Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam for Fu Zhiheng and Mohammad Saif Al Suwaidi; Sitara-i-Pakistan for Majid bin Abdullah Al Kassabi and Engineer Abdullah Al-Swaha; and Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam for Haydar Qurbonov and Dr. Christine Schmotzer. The president also conferred Tamgha-i-Pakistan on Mountaineer Lukas Woerle, Dr. Aurore Dither, Prof. Valeria Fiorani Piacentini and Agostino Da Polenza; Tamgha-i-Quaid-e-Azam for Zhang Baozhong and Xinmiin Liu and Tamgha-i-Khidmat for Diana McArthur.
Editor: Kamran Raja