Sanam Bhutto (right), daughter of late ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and sister-in-law of President Asif Ali Zardari, accepts Nishan-e-Pakistan award in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2025 on behalf of her father. (President of Pakistan)

·       Asif Zardari awards honors at investiture ceremony on Pakistan's Republic Day

·       Ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto bestowed Nishan-e-Pakistan award posthumously

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday awarded the nation's highest civil awards to 69 Pakistani and foreign nationals in recognition of their contributions in their fields, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

 

The awards were awarded during an investiture ceremony on the occasion of Pakistan's Republic Day being commemorated annually on Mar. 23 in Islamabad city.

 

The function was organized at the Aiwan e Sadr or the presidential residence, where various personalities were awarded civil awards for the recognition of their services in the fields of health, education, literature, journalism, public, research, diplomatic affairs and economy.

 

“President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday conferred the civil awards of Pakistan on 69 individuals comprising Pakistani citizens and foreigners in recognition of their commendable services in different walks of life,” APP reported.

 

Late ex-prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also the founder of the Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was posthumously given the Nishan-e-Pakistan award. Sanam Bhutto, the daughter of Bhutto and sister-in-law of Zardari, accepted the award on behalf of her father.

 

Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979, in Rawalpindi District Jail, where he had been imprisoned after being convicted of conspiring to kill a political rival. The charismatic, Western-educated politician was the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973, and subsequently the nation's ninth prime minister from 1973 to 1977.

 

He was removed from power in a military coup by General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq on July 5, 1977, after an election in which Bhutto is broadly accused of having rigged the poll.

 

Legal professionals have challenged Bhutto's trial in both the Lahore High Court and Supreme Court for many years, questioned the conduct and procedure of hearings, and queried that they had been conducted at a time when Pakistan was still under military regime. Experts are of the opinion that this is why Bhutto's death sentence verdict has never been used as a precedent by any case subsequent to it in the history of Pakistan's legal system.

 

Pakistan's supreme court, in a historic decision a year ago, acknowledged that Bhutto never had a fair trial.

 

Those foreign nationals, who were honoured by the president, are Hyder Qurbanov and Dr. Christine Brunhilde who were given Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam award, while Agostino Da Polenza and Professor Valeria Picacentini were conferred with Tamgha-e-Pakistan, and Dr. Xinmin Liu got the Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam.

 

Independently, Zardari conferred military honors upon Military honors on the officers and men of the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force.

 

Awards made under these were two Sitara-i-Basalat, 227 Tamgha-i-Basilat, 82 Imtiazi Asnad, 185 Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards, 23 Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), 112 Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) and 133 Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military) awards.