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Pakistanis and foreign nationals were honoured with civil awards on Wednesday for services rendered to the country in various fields, including the arts, literature and sports.

At the main ceremony in Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari presented the country’s third-highest civil honour, the Nishan-i-Imtiaz, to writers Atta ul Haq Qasmi and Irfan ul Haq Siddiqui for their contributions to literature.

Poet Zehra Majid Ali — Zehra Nigah — was recognised with a Hilal-i-Imtiaz alongside playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed.

Hadiqa Kiani received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her work in music. Photographer Irfan Ahson and visual artist Hamra Abbas were also conferred the award for their contribution to the arts.

Actors Rashid Waheed Khawaja and Zahid Ahmed received the President’s Pride of Performance Award for their work.

Shahid Afridi received the Hilal-i-Imtiaz from the president in recognition of his services to sports alongside the mountaineer Shehroz Kashif and the late equestrian Malik Ata Muhammad Khan.

Shooter Mohsin Nawaz and artist Waseem Ahmed received the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.

In Peshawar, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi presented the Sitara-i-Imtiaz to former Pakistan cricket captain Sana Mir. He also conferred the Pride of Performance Award to Jamshid Ali Khan for arts, direction and production and Aminullah Daudzai for literature and poetry.

Squash champ Muhammad Hamza Khan was given the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for his contributions to sports.

A third ceremony was held in Karachi, where Governor Nehal Hashmi conferred the Sitara-i-Imtiaz upon Fazila Qazi and Savera Nadeem in recognition of their work as actors.

Mukhtiar Naz Taj Mastani was presented Pride of Performance Award for her contributions to music and naat khawan Qazi Shujaat Qadri received the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.