ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has conferred civil awards on the occasion of Pakistan Day, with the largest medal being given to PPP founder Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
According to Express News, President Asif Ali Zardari has conferred civil awards on 69 national and foreign personalities who have rendered distinguished services in various fields on March 23, Pakistan Day.
A grand ceremony was held at the President’s Office regarding the award distribution, in which the President awarded the personalities who have shown outstanding performance in various fields with the Nishan-e-Pakistan, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Nishan-e-Khidmat, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Shujaat, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Shujaat, Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Presidential Medal for Good Performance, Tamgha Pakistan and Tamgha Imtiaz.
Former Prime Minister and PPP founder Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan in recognition of his distinguished service to the country, democracy and the people. His daughter Sanam Bhutto received the award from the President. On this occasion, she could not control her emotions while the venue also echoed with Bhutto’s slogans.
In addition, Air Marshal (R) Raja Shahid Hamid (deceased) was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (posthumously) and Sultan Ali Akbar Alana was awarded the Nishan-e-Khidmat, SP Muhammad Ijaz Khan Shaheed, DSP Allama Iqbal Shaheed, DSP Sardar Hussain Shaheed, Constable Irshad Ali and Jahanzeb Shaheed were awarded the Hilal-e-Shujaat (posthumously) to several police personnel.
Hilal-e-Imtiaz
Dr. Tauqeer Hussain Shah, Captain (R) Khurram Agha, Ali Haider Gilani, Khawaja Anwar Majeed, Hussain Dawood, Professor Dr. Shahryar, Dr. Zaryab Setna, Javed Jabbar, Ms. Sadia Rashid, Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim, Jimmy Engineer, Umar Farooq, Dr. Naveed Sherwani and other personalities were awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz.
Sitara Shujaat
Captain (R) Hamza Anjum Shaheed and Malik Sabz Ali Shaheed were awarded Sitara Shujaat. These awards were received by their families.
Star of Excellence
The recipients of the Star of Excellence include Muhammad Samir-ur-Rehman, Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Irfan Nawaz Memon, Sardar Muhammad Aftab Ahmed Khan Wattoo, Dr. Hamid Atiq Sarwar, Ali Salman Habib (posthumously), Waqaruddin Syed, Ayaz Khan, Professor Dr. Zia-ul-Haq, Imtiaz Hussain, Jamil Ahmed, Syed Azhar Hasnain Abidi, Zafar Waqar Taj, Muhammad Hussain alias Murad Sadpara (posthumously), Behrooz Hussain Baloch, Sana Hashwani and Safi Naz Munir.
Medal for Meritorious Service
The Presidential Medal for Meritorious Service was awarded to Naveed Ahmed Farid, Rashid Waheed Khawaja, Aniqa Bano, Barkat Shah.
Star of Quaid-e-Azam / Medal of Pakistan
Haider Qurbanov and Dr. Christine Bernhild were awarded the Star of Quaid-e-Azam, while the Medal of Pakistan was awarded to Augustino da Pollenza and Professor Velvia Piacentini.
Tamgha Imtiaz
Those who have shown outstanding performance in various fields were awarded Tamgha Imtiaz, including Syed Shakeel Shah, Ashhad Jawad, Amin Muhammad Lakhani, Rehan Mehtab Chawla, Syed Jawad Hussain Jafri, Professor Dr. Usman Qamar, Ms. Dr. Sara Qureshi, Dr. Ikramullah, Muhammad Yousaf Khan, Sarwar Munir Rao.
In addition, journalists Hassan Ayub, Dr. Syed Abid Mehdi Kazmi, Mir Nader Khan Magsi were also awarded Tamgha Imtiaz. The Star of Quaid-e-Azam was awarded to Dr. Shen Min Liu.
The ceremony was attended by federal ministers, chairman of the Senate, members of parliament, diplomats, representatives of civil society, media persons and other dignitaries.
