ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari announced on Sunday the recipients of the top civilian awards, both Pakistani and foreign nationals, on the 65th Independence Day of the country. The investiture ceremony will take place on the Pakistan Day on March 23, 2012.
Nishan-i-Imtiaz is to be conferred upon the late Salmaan Taseer, ex-governor of Punjab, Senate chairman Farooq H Naek, National Assembly Speaker Fahmida Mirza, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the president in the field of public service. Fuad Abdul Salam Muhammad Al-Farsi (Saudi Arabia) is to be decorated with Hilal-i-Pakistan for services to Pakistan.
Farzana Raja, chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme, Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Sultan Lakhani, Zumarad Khan, Mian Amir Mahmood, Farhatullah Babar, Gohar Ejaz and the late Mohammad Waris Mir will be honoured with Hilal-i-Imtiaz in the field of public service.
The late Wadal Shah is to be awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz for journalism. Sitara-i-Pakistan will be bestowed upon Mohammad Farqad Alamgir (UK), Adnan Bin Mohammad Amin Katib (Saudi Arabia), Chen Qiu Fa (China) for services to Pakistan.
Sitara-i-Imtiaz will be awarded to Raihan Merchant for public service, Burhan Kayaturk (Turkey) for services to Pakistan, Javed Iqbal Minhas in metallurgical engineering, Iqrar Ahmad Khan for agricultural research and education, Khalid Mohammed Khan for science (medicinal and synthetic organic chemistry), Hassan Amir Shah for science (physics), Abdul Hameed for science (applied & environmental microbiology/biotechnology), Aslam Azhar for broadcasting, Muhammad Farooq Khan for writing, Mashkoor Hussain Yaad for literature, Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar for public service, Hanif Khalid for literature (journalism), Khush Bakhat Shujjat for public service, Sikander Ahmed Rai for public service, Zahid Malik for journalism, Tahir Khalil for journalism, Agha Nasir for literature, Ghulam Murtaza Solangi for public service, Sohail Rana for art, Mubasher Lucman for journalism, Mehdi Hassan for literature, Nasara Wazir Ali for public service, Javed Sarwar Naqvi Syed (UK) for services to Pakistan, Sharmila Faruqui and Nargis Sethi for public service. President’s Award for Pride of Performance is to go to Raja Shahid Nazir for engineering (mechanical), Abdul Hamid for science (physics), Aqueel Haider Zaidi for engineering (electrical), Muhammad Fayaz for engineering (nuclear), Sajjad Ahmad Mehmood for engineering (chemical), Ghulam Hussain for engineering (mechanical), Gulzar Alam and Ejaz Hussain for music.
Actors Noman Ejaz, Javed Sheikh, Meera and Saba Hameed were nominated for pride of performance for services in film and television. Cricketer Muhammad Yousaf was honoured for his services in cricket.
(APP with additional reporting by Ali Usman in Lahore)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2011.
COMMENTS (34)
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Dear Sir, The president announced the awards on 65th Independence Day. I dont want to disscuss the politicians received this award but we cant say to the Civil Servents who received this award.
Sitara-i-Imtiaz was awrded to the Chaiman Award Comittee and Seccratary Cabnait Division Nargis Sethi for public services. Can any body tell me that for what public service this award was given. Yes when she santioned the awards for other it was her right to take one for himself . Is it not the fact.
Hey everyone, lets storm the state bank, rob it down to the floor tiles and walk away boasting our allegiance to the PPP. Maybe that qualifies us for these awards.
what else we can expect from this goverment?? I couldn't find any words to describe them, infact there is NO word in any language to describe such national level jokes......height of non seriousness, and such a blasphemy with prestige and honour of Pakistan repeated almost everyday.
I can bet, no country has seen and no country CAN see this kind of goverment ever.....!! BUNCH OF ****
@Adeel Ahmed: Check fact and figures and then comment. Why your tongue starts shivering when it comes the names of Generals? General had also conferred scores of civil awards on his fellow Generals working in the civil admin. Similarly high awards were also given to political persons in the past by Nawaz Sharif
We need a free and vibrant media in Pakistan who work for the interest of common people. But freedom does not mean blackmailing the Government or to work against the interests of the State. I is very sad to write that a credible media group like Dawn is biased now a days e.g. their journalist Amir Waseem’s story about civil awards is fake. He used names of previous nominees in his story. While President Zardari conferred Civil Awards under the prescribed procedure. It is wrong to say that President conferred awards on his own. Under the defamation law, an action should be taken against him for defaming President of the country.
As far as the receipients of Nishan e Imtiaz is concerned, no one other than, Shaheed Salman Taseer, deserved to have been conferred this prestigious award. Conferring highest awards upon Farooq H Naik, Fahmidah Mirza and Farhatullah Baber, amounts to diminish the worth and value of this Highest award of the country. One cannot locate, even if he looks through a powerful microscope any acheivement on their part to make them entitled to this generosity. Nazir Naji Sahib who had been defending the PPP government was obliged to condemn this "distribution" of the awards. Late Shabaz Bhatti deserved more than many of the receipients to have been decorated. Poor man belonged to minority, is a disqualification in the present political envirenments of Pakistan.
hahahahaha. Zabardast! I like the discussion too... Meera! lol :p
I felt disgrace by reading few of the names like Rehman Malik, Sharmeela Faruqi, Salman Faruqi, Farzana Raja and Farhatullah Babar etc etc. Such a shame
Supreme Court should take suo moto action... A President who is ALSO the party chief is awarding his party members and cronies... Blatant misconduct and conflict of interest...
SC what are you gonna do? Presumably nothing, as your track record shows.
Zardari is truly a king maker. he has no regard for Merit. His only benchmark is how much the person has served him personally.
What an absolute joke!
Where's the award for ijaz butt. He deserves it the most :D
Zardari khuppay........welcome to the real world, just wait and watch, there is more to come yet.
nobody spreads zakat in this holy month like this as the president announces the awards among his party members.it is called "andha bantay rawrian , apno apno may"
Welcome to Bhuttoistan...
I only hope that we dont see these people again ruling us, the best place for them was where they were put before NRO. Hope to see them again there and hope they will stay there for the rest of there lives.
what about NISHAN E HAIDER to Osama Bin LAden ad Baitullah Mehsud,Ilyas kashmiri and SIATARA E SHUJAAT to Muslim Khan, Fazlullah, Sufi Muhammad, Hakim ullah Mesud..SITARA E BISALAT to faqir Muhammad ad Mangal Baagh, and most of all NISHA E PAKISTAN to Masood Azhar ad Hafiz Muhammad Saeed for their services to Pakistan
@abdul basit, shahbaz bhatti was awarded this year on 23rd march (2011)
@Roflcopter: I.A he will receive his award from a judge very soon and then from Allah himself for taking life of an innocent man whose crime was only to speak against a law created by a dictator.
another joke!
salman taseer really deserved to be awarded.but why no awards for shabaz bhatti and sherry rehman? both these people have fought the good fight bravely against the forces of relgious obscurantism,so why not reward them? sherry rehman deserves it more than sharmila faroqui.
Wonderful that Salmaan Taseer has been honoured but a bigger service to his memory would be to pardon Aasia Bibi. As for some of the rest on the list...............what a laugh!!!! Profiteers, corrupt and inept politicians...and Sharmilla Faruqi............i don't even have the words.
just great !! We are going backwards in time... When Ghaalib said "Bana Hai Shah Kaa Musaahib Phiray Hai Ittrataa", that was witty, sarcastic and above all shameful ... Too bad we are living in the Pakistan where no shame and personal respect exists at all...
Meera was the only one who deserved it.
Abdul Hamid for Physics?? That man has published just 3 papers in the late 70's and has done no research work in the past 30 years! What was the criteria for awarding these so-called "scientists"?
The person who deserves the highest award (Mumtaz Qadri) is missing from the list. I am disappointed.
it's a shame to award members of the ruling party by the rulers....a criteria and an awarding committee needs to be set up with a criteria that sitting members of the ruling party shall not get any of these awards....otherwise the awards will lose their meaning. Now what has Hussain Haqqani done??? Sharmila farooqi ??? Ms Sethi hardly people know her...Fehmida Mirza...or Farooq Naik...they are only doing their duty and paid for it...Zammarad Khan indulging in Sawab through creating Yateem Khanas in Pakistan, picking children from their homes and subjecting them to psychological damage by institutionalizing them....each one of these can be challenged...one can excuse PPP for it's non performance due to XYZ reasons but indulging in doling out the very prestigious awards like this is completely unacceptable and has no good reason......
This is unacceptable and even a Jiyala can't defend such acts. A very bad precedent set.
PPP government doling out national awards to its party workers on Quota System. We condemn this practice. Even the national awards are not given on merit in this country.
During the 2010 floods, a lot of individuals and organisations did some trailblazing work to help the citizens. During Attabad landslide in January 2010, an NGO FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance did excellent work in helping the people, setting up early warning systems and rehabilitation.
I am disappointed that these individuals and NGOs were not recognised for giving awards. I feel the President/Prime Minister should give special recognition to these Individuals/NGOs.
The list of awarders is disappointing .......it looks like a political dole out.
Speechless at some of the names.....Sharmila Farooqi, Salman Farooqi, Rehman Malik, Farhatullah Babar.......I am sure if you ask them what "service" they have done to the nation/public, they themselves won't be able to say anything.....conferring this award to such people is an insult to the truly illustrious sons and daughters of Pakistan who have been awarded in the past after dedicated life long services to the nation in their respective fields.....These awards should be beyond political considerations.....I heard that in her first tenure as PM, late Benazir Bhutto had categorically ordered that none of her ministers and government functionaries should be considered for any such awards while they are holding office......This utter disregard of transparency, propriety in nominations for such honours is truly disgusting......
Never heard of civilian awards being dolled out to political posts and that too for those having such a short tenure.
The civilian awards are supposed to be bestowed in recognition of service to the country, however, the President seems to be under the impression that the awards are meant for the PPP henchmen. This has literally demeaned the sanctity of the awards and their credibilty has now been reduced to a meaningless respect.
Sitara e Imtiaz to Sharmila Farooqi for public service. Public service of slapping fellow passenger?