ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Liaqat, a railway employee who thwarted a suicide attack in Attock, was among several Pakistani nationals and foreigners who were conferred civil awards by President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday in recognition of their outstanding services in various fields.
President Zardari posthumously awarded the Sitara-i-Shujaat to Liaquat for his extraordinary bravery and sacrifice, following the recommendations from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider. The civil gallantry award was received by the deceased’s mother.
Liaqat embraced martyrdom after courageously intercepting a suicide attacker near the Mankoor check post in the Jand tehsil of Attock district, preventing what officials described as a major tragedy and saving numerous lives.
The investiture ceremony was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, where various personalities were conferred with civil awards in recognition of their services in health, education, literature, journalism, public service, research, diplomatic affairs, sports and the economy.
President Zardari confers civil awards on prominent Pakistani and foreign nationals
The ceremony was attended by First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, federal ministers, the Senate chairman, parliamentarians, members of civil society, diplomats, media representatives and a large number of guests.
Nishan-i-Imtiaz (posthumous) was conferred upon late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, and late Irfanul Haq Siddiqui in recognition of their outstanding services to the country.
The recipients of Nishan-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz included Attaul Haq Qasmi, Shahid Khan Afridi, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Muhammad Ali, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Senator Taj Haider (posthumous), Moazzam Jah Ansari, Engineer Jamaluddin Ahmed, Mirza Rizwan Baig, Muhammad Yousuf Khan, Dr Ameer Muhammad, Professor Dr Ikram ul Haq, Zahra Majid Ali, Shehroz Kashif, Malik Ata Muhammad Khan (posthumous), Ehtesham ul Haq, Azeezuddin, Bahraini diplomat Mohammad Ebrahim and Mohammad Abdul Qadir.
The recipients of Sitara-i-Shujaat (posthumous) are: Javedullah Khan Mehsood, Nawab Ali, Senator Hidayatullah, ASI Muhammad Akram, SI Taj Meer Shah, Constable Abdullah, Constable Samand Khan, Constable Zameel Badshah, Abdul Hameed, Constable Muhammad Siraj, Constable Muhammad Javed, Hafeezullah, Inspector Shariq Rizwan, Jawad Qamar, Naek Gulzar Ali, Sepoy Uzair Khan, Sepoy Khatab ul Rehman, Sepoy Gul Umarzai, Sepoy Abdul Sameed, Sepoy Imran Khan, Naib Subedar Muhammad Jan, Lance Naek Syedur Rehman, Sepoy Hazratullah, Sepoy Khunzada, Sepoy Mushtaq Ahmed, Sepoy Baseerullah, Sepoy Mehtabur Rehman, Sepoy Sher Rehman, Sepoy Fazal Kareem and Sepoy Syed Amin, Sepoy Muhammad Yousaf, Constable Muhammad Shehryar, Faisal Ismail, Abdul Wakeel, Fazal Manan, ASI Noor Hakeem, Constable Zahidullah and Liaqat Ali.
The recipients of Hilal-i-Shujaat (posthumous) included Shah Wali Khan, ASI Muhammad Ejaz Khan, SI Laiq Zada, Constable Alam Zeb, Constable Muhammad Ejaz, Waseem Ahmed Khan and Sepoy Azhar Mehmood.
The personalities who received Sitara-i-Imtiaz included Interior Secretary Muhammad Agha, Dr Muhammad Fakhar-i-Alam, Nabeel Munir, Iftikhar Amjad, Sohail Ashraf, Dr Naseem Faraz, Javed Akbar Riaz, Brigadier Faisal Shaukat Jehangiri, Ahmed Abdul Moeez Khawaja, Irfan Ahsan, Hamza Tabani, Dr Arshad Rehan (US/Pakistani), late Munir Ahmed Chaudhry, Muhammad Yaseen Khan, Arshad Wali Muhammad, Ahmed Raza, Prof Sarwar Muhammad Khawaja, Hamra Abbas, late Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, Nadeem Hussain and Nadeem Mehboob.
Rashid Waheed Khawaja and Zahid Ahmed received Pride of Performance award, while Muhammad Saeed Sheikh received Sitara-i-Khidmat and Shahid Hussain received Tamgha-i-Shujaat.
Those who received Tamgha-i-Imtiaz included Sindh IGP Javaid Akhtar Odhoo, Nadir Shafee Dar, Dr Muhammad Shahbaz Chaudhry, Muhammad Kashif Ashfaq, Ch Amanat Hussain Mahr, Dr Farhat Akhtar Raja, Dr Khurum Hayat Khan, Dr Muhammad Shabi Ahmed, Dr Zeeshan Ali, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, Raja Suleman Raza, Sajid Abbas, Naveed Anwar Chaudhry, Abdul Waheed Khan, Abdul Wahab Sheikh, Waqasul Hassan, Shazia Sikandar Rana, Mohsin Nawaz, Muhammad Arsalan Zafar, Abdul Muhai Shah, Dr Rao Kamran Ali, Dr Imran Syed, Dr Muhammad Naeem Malik, Nasir Aftab, Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Marri, Aamir Javed Sheikh, Dr Anam Fatema, Qazi Ali Raza, Chaudhry Awais Afzal, Sahibzada Muhammad Yousuf, Waseem Ahmed, Professor Muhammad Tayyeb, Nadia Jehangir Seth and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar.
Amjad Iqbal in Taxila also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026
