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The presidential civil awards are bestowed upon people from various professions who show excellence in their respective fields. The government of Pakistan released the list of the honorees on August 14, 2023 (Independence Day) and the accolades will be conferred on March 23, 2024 (Pakistan Day).

Here’s a list of some prominent artists and the awards they will receive.

HILAL-I-IMTIAZ

1. Rahat Ali Khan — Qawwali / Singing
2. Mohammad Ahmed Shah — Culture
3. Mehmood Ahmed Tahir Bhatti — Film Direction & Fashion Designing

SITARA-I-IMTIAZ

1. Bilal Lashari — Direction, Cinematography, Scriptwriting
2. Satish Anand — Film Production / Distribution
3. Javed Bashir Ahmad — Singing
4. Faakhir Mehmood — Singing
5. Shabnam — Singing

PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE

1. Shazia Manzoor — Singing
2. Dhai Bai alias Mai Dhai — Singing
3. Hamayoon Khan Arts — Singing
4. Inayat Hussain Bhatti (late) — Film Acting, Production, Direction, Scriptwriting
5. Zulfiqar Ali Attre — Music Composing
6. Ajab Gul — Acting / Direction
7. Ishrat Abass — Drama / Theater / Radio / Actor
8. Shakir Zeb — Music Direction
9. Qadir Bux Mithoo — Comedy
10. Mussarrat Kalanchvi — Urdu / Saraiki Fiction & Playwriting
11. Adnan Siddiqui — Acting, Host, Production
12. Zubaida (Naghma) — Film Artist
13. Hassan Askari — Film Direction / Writing
14. Sheema Kermani — Classical Dancing / Choreography
15. Naseer Baig Mirza — Comparing, Writing, Producer

TAMGHA-I-IMTIAZ

1. Sajal Ali — Acting
2. Juggan Kazim — Anchoring / Acting
3. Abdul Batin Farooqi — Acting
4. Almas Khan Khalil — Folk Pashto Singing
5. Fazal Wahab Dard — Singing
6. Ustad Rustam Fateh Ali Khan — Classical Singing
7. Imran Aziz Mian — Qawwali
8. Gulraiz Ghouri — Photography
9. Rahmatullah Khan — Photography
10. Khalid Bin Shaheen — Acting / Production
11. Shahzad Rafique — Film Direction
12. Fizza Ali Meerza — Production / Screen Writing
13. Amjad Sheikh — Production / Distribution
14. Abdul Wasay Chaudhary — Film / Drama Acting
15. Farooq Hassan — Host

Filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat said that his name was removed from the list of presidential award nominees announced on August 14. He took to Instagram to share the perplexing news, assuring people that he didn’t create the list himself.

“As far as I remember, (from the year I got the PP) the list disclosed on the 14th of August is the finalised list unless the recipient refuses to accept the award,” he wrote, sharing a screenshot of the list released initially.

Arooj Aftab was another big name conferred with the Pride of Performance. She received the award on August 14, 2023, in a ceremony held in Washington DC. However, Aftab’s name was not on the list shared by the government.

The full list is available here.