Islamabad witnessed a grand ceremony as President Asif Ali Zardari conferred civil awards on 69 distinguished national and international figures for their exceptional contributions in various fields.

Among the recipients, former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was posthumously awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country’s highest civilian honour. His daughter, Sanam Bhutto, accepted the award on his behalf.

Held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the ceremony marked Pakistan Day by recognising achievements across multiple domains.

The honours included 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, the Presidential Pride of Performance Award, Tamgha-e-Pakistan, and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

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Air Marshal (Retd) Raja Shahid Hamid and Sultan Ali Akbar Allana were awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz and Nishan-e-Khidmat, respectively. Several police officials, including SP Muhammad Ijaz Khan Shaheed, DSP Allama Iqbal Shaheed, DSP Sardar Hussain Shaheed, Constable Irshad Ali, and Jahanzeb, received Hilal-e-Shujaat posthumously for their bravery.

Those honoured with Hilal-e-Imtiaz included Dr Tauqir Hussain Shah, Captain (Retd) Khurram Agha, Ali Haider Gilani, Khawaja Anwar Majeed, Hussain Dawood, Professor Dr Sheheryar, Dr Zaryab Setna, Javed Jabbar, Sadia Rashid, Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim, Jimmy Engineer, Umar Farooq, and Dr Naveed Sherwani.

Sitara-e-Shujaat was awarded to Captain (Retd) Hamza Anjum Shaheed and Malik Sabz Ali Shaheed, while Sitara-e-Imtiaz recipients included Muhammad Sameer Rehman, Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir, Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Irfan Nawaz Memon, and several other prominent individuals.

The Presidential Pride of Performance Award was given to Naveed Ahmed Fareed, Rashid Waheed Khawaja, Anika Bano, and Barkat Shah. Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam was awarded to Haider Qurbunov and Dr Christine Bernhild, while Tamgha-e-Pakistan was conferred upon Agostino da Polenza and Professor Velovia Piachentini.

Sindh, Punjab ceremonies

Parallel award ceremonies were held at Governor Houses in Punjab and Sindh.

At Governor House Lahore, Salman Ghani received Sitara-e-Imtiaz for journalism, while Kamran Shahid was honoured with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

Singer Fariha Pervez was recognised with the Presidential Pride of Performance Award for her contributions to the performing arts. Hasan Nawaz received the award for excellence in sports, while Mian Aziz Ahmed was also among the recipients.

At Governor House Sindh, 12 individuals were honoured for their achievements. Among them, Dr Suleman Shahabuddin, President of Aga Khan University, Dr Samreen Hussain, Vice-Chancellor of Dawood University, and Syed Imran Ali Shah, Chief Financial Officer of Meezan Bank, were awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz.

Amreen Haseeb Ambar received the Presidential Pride of Performance Award, while Tamgha-e-Imtiaz was awarded to Maqsood Ahmed, Joseph Coutts, Rear Admiral (Retd) Tanveer Ahmed, and Waris Panjwani posthumously.

The event was attended by federal ministers, the Senate chairman, parliamentarians, diplomats, civil society representatives, and media personnel. The prestigious occasion celebrated the dedication and achievements of individuals who have made significant contributions to Pakistan in their respective fields.