President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday announced the conferment of national awards for 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 and will be presented to the awardees at an investiture ceremony on Pakistan Day, March 23, 2025, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

The president conferred awards in the fields of science and engineering, education, medicine, arts, literature, sports, social services, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, taxpayers and exporters, public services, gallantry, and services to Pakistan.

The Nishan-i-Pakistan was conferred on former president and prime minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in recognition of his public services.

In the sports category, Zardari announced the Hilal-i-Imtiaz for Arshad Nadeem, who recently bagged gold and broke the Olympic record at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Sitara-i-Imtiaz will be conferred posthumously on renowned climber Murad Sadpara, who succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning after the army launched an operation to rescue him from Gilgit-Baltistan’s Broad Peak.

Other awardees for sports include Maqsood Ahmed, Amad Shakeel Butt, Rehman Ishtiaq, Mir Nadir Khan Magsi, who will all receive the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, while Amir Ishfaq will be conferred with the Presidential Pride of Performance award.

In recognition of their excellence in the field of science, the president conferred the 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 field of education, Sadia Rasheed will be awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, while Dr Suleman Shahabuddin and Syed Azhar Hussain Abidi will be awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz. The Pride of Performance award will be conferred upon Barkat Shah, Abdul Rasheed Kakar, and Aneeqa Bano.

For their contribution to the field of medicine, Zardari will award the Hilal-i-Imtiaz to Dr Shahryar and Dr Zaryab Sethna, and the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz to Dr Akifullah Khan, Dr Syed Abid Mehdi Kazmi, and Ikramullah Khan.

In the field of arts, Collin David was bestowed with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, while Arshad Aziz Malik, Bakhtiar Ahmed, and Barrister Zafarullah were conferred with the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz. The Pride of Performance will be awarded to Fariha Pervaiz, Hamid Rana, Shiba Arshad, and Naveed Ahmed Bhatti.

The recipients in the fields of literature include Javed Jabbar (Hilal-i-Imtiaz); Salman Awan, Zafar Waqar Taj and Muniza Shamsi (Sitara-i-Imtiaz); Syed Jawad Husain Jafari (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz) and Ambreen Haseeb (Pride of Performance). The Nishan-i-Imtiaz was posthumously conferred upon Nasir Kazmi.

Other recipients of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz include Mian Aziz Ahmed, Hunaid Lakhani, Sana Hashwani and Safinaz Munir, the duo behind the luxury clothing brand Sana Safinaz. The Hilal-i-Imtiaz will be conferred upon Khwaja Anver Majeed and Hussain Dawood.

Taxpayers and exporters who were conferred the Sitara-i-Imtiaz include 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 terrorist attack in Mastung. Meanwhile, Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha, Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, and Umar Farooq will be awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz.

In the field of public service, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz will be conferred upon Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi, Dr Hamid Attiq Sarwar, Waqasuddin Syed, Jameel Ahmed, Ayaz Khan, Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir, and Irfan Nawaz Memon. The 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 the 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 Retired Captain Hamza Anjum were conferred the Sitara-i-Shujaat, while the 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, the following foreigners were conferred with national awards: Saudi Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman al Saud (Hilal-i-Imtiaz); Fu Zhiheng (Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam); Mohammad Saif Al Suwaidi (Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam); Majid bin Abdullah Al Kassabi (Sitara-i-Pakistan); Abdullah Al-Swaha (Sitara-i-Pakistan); Haydar Qurbonoy (Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam) and Dr Christine Schmotzer (Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam).

The president also conferred Tamgha-i-Pakistan on Mountaineer Lukas Woerle, Dr Aurore Dither, Prof Valeria Fiorani Piacentini, and Agostino Da Polenza. The Tamgha-i-Quaid-e-Azam was conferred upon Zhang Baozhong and Xinmiin Liu, while the Tamgha-i-Khidmat was awarded to Diana McArthur.