Mahira Khan defends Mehwish Hayat after she's criticised for winning the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

On this March 23, Punjab Nahi Jaungi star Mehwish Hayat will be one of 127 people who will be bestowed a civil award by President Arif Alvi in honour of their work for Pakistan's betterment.

She's being honoured with the greats and the reasons for that are evident; Hayat, who has been working in the fraternity for over a decade, has consistently appeared in some of the highest grossing movies in Pakistan (Load Wedding, Na Maloom Afraad, Actor in Law and so many more dramas as well). Clearly, that's not enough for some people.

Read: This is recognition that I must be doing something right: Mehwish Hayat on her Tamgha-i-Imtiaz

The actress called out Siasat.pk in a recent tweet, that had published an article questioning whether Hayat won the award on merit or due to some political affiliations with PTI:

In a heartwarming show of support, many celebs from the industry such as Mahira Khan, Osman Khalid Butt and Fahad Mustafa defended Hayat on social media:

The discussion forum in turn tried to scapegoat another publication, saying they had lifted the story from there:

Mehwish will receive a Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, which is the fourth-highest decoration given to any civilian in Pakistan. Other entertainment figures being honored on March 23 include actor Babra Sharif and singers Attaullah Essakhelvi and Sajjad Ali, who are both being bestowed the Sitara-i-Imtiaz. Reema Khan is getting a Pride of Performance award.