Nishan-e-Imtiaz

The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Urdu: نشان امتیاز‎, English: Order of Excellence) is one of the state organized civil decorations of State of Pakistan.[2] It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or an outstanding service for the country. However, the award is not limited to citizens of Pakistan and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform. Nishan, translates as Decoration/Order, is a highly restricted and prestigious award roughly equivalent to Presidential Medal of Freedom (United States) and Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom), and is the first category award of Order of Imtiaz.[2] The other three descending categories are Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz. Usually, it is regarded as the highest award one can achieve in Pakistan since the higher award Nishan-e-Pakistan is awarded only to foreign Heads of States.

Nishan-e-Imtiaz
Nishaani Imtiyaaz (Order of Excellence), 3rd class. (1956 – Present)
Awarded by The President of Pakistan
TypeAward
EligibilityPakistani or Foreign citizen
Awarded forService to the state, and for services to international diplomacy.
StatusCurrently constituted
SovereignPresident of Pakistan
SovereignPrime minister of Pakistan
Grades5 grade: Star (1st Class)
Badge (Second Class)
Ribbon (military only)
Collar Chain (4th class)
Medal (5th Class)[1]
Statistics
First induction19 March 1957
Total inductees34
Precedence
Next (higher)None
Next (lower)Hilal-i-Imtiaz

Ribbons: military (only)

The Award was established on March 19, 1957, following the proclamation of State of Pakistan as a Parliamentary republic, by the 1956 Constitution. The award is the top decoration in the country, given to a person who has accomplished duty beyond what is assigned to him/her. The person has to show eminence and be outstanding in providing excellent service in a significant field of activity. It means that he/she has to prove that he/she has achieved distinction.

The award may be awarded posthumously and may also be awarded to an individual more than once, though it has not been awarded twice since 1999. Nishan-i-Imtiaz, is an honour given by the Government of Pakistan to both the military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces and civilians who have outstanding contributions that prompted world recognition of Pakistan. For civilians, it is awarded for distinguished merit, honouring their excellence in their respected fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine, or science. The award is usually given to individuals not groups because the whole purpose of the award is to recognise individual excellence.

For those in the military it is given after distinguished service and is also the highest award that can be awarded to those at the rank of Generals (Army), Air Chief Marshals (Air Force), and Admirals of the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines.

Parliament's committee for the Award and Recognition of Services for the State of Pakistan, select individuals and send a final report to the Prime minister of Pakistan. On advice of the Prime Minister, the President organizes a colorful ceremony that is telecast and broadcast nationally.

This award ceremony is held once in a year, nominees are announced on Independence Day and the ceremony takes place on Pakistan Day in a Presidential Palace. Nishan-i-Imtiaz is awarded to the nominees by the President of Pakistan in a colorful public ceremony.

The badge of the Nishan-e-Imtiaz is in the form of pure golden star with light-white enamel, with well polished green emerald circumference to the inside the golden star. Written in gold words around the green emerald, it reads as نشان امتیاز. A golden Jasminum stands between the point of the star. It is worn around the neck with a yellow, bright yellow and white ribbon (for civilians) or bright green and white ribbon (for military officers) with white edge stripes.

A special grade of the award has a larger execution of the same medal design worn as a star on the left chest. In addition, it is worn as a sash on the right shoulder, with its rosette (yellow with white (for civilians) or/ green (Military officers only) with white and yellow edge, bearing the disc of the medal at its center, resting on the left hip. At the ceremony, both medals can be worn at the same time.

For military officers, the medal is accompanied by a ribbon bar for wearing on military uniform, a miniature medal pendant for wearing on mess uniform, and a lapel badge for wearing on civilian clothes.

Recipients
Name of the recipient Field Year Country[note 1]
Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Egyptian field marshal Egypt
Majid Nizami Journalist[3]
Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi 1958 Pakistan
Aga Khan IV Religious leader 1970
Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi Queen 1970 Nepal
Abdus Salam Scientist, nuclear physicist 1979 Pakistan
Abdul Sattar Edhi Social activist 1989 Pakistan
Faiz Ahmed Faiz Poet and scholar[4] 1990 Pakistan
Abdul Qadeer Khan Nuclear scientist 1996 Pakistan
Ishfaq Ahmad Nuclear scientist 1998 Pakistan
Dilip Kumar Indian film actor[5][6][7][8] 1998 India
Riazuddin Physicist 1998
Sharifuddin Pirzada Attorney-general of Pakistan 1998
Muhammad Raziuddin Siddiqui Educationist 1998 Pakistan
Abdul Qadeer Khan Nuclear scientist 1999 Pakistan
Akhtar Hameed Khan 2001
Shahid Karimullah 2002
Atta ur Rahman Scientist, educationist 2002
Hakim Said (Hakeem Mohammad Saeed) Social activist, philanthropist [9] 2002
Yaşar Büyükanıt 2007 Turkey
Habib Jalib Poet and scholar 2009
Khurshid Ahmad Professor [10] 2011
Mehdi Hassan Film playback singer 2012
Saadat Hassan Manto Short story writer 2012 Pakistan
Abdul Sattar Edhi Social activist, founder of Edhi Foundation 2012
Munir Ahmad Khan Nuclear scientist 2012
Rahimuddin Khan
Rashad Mahmood General in the Pakistan Armed Forces[11] 2013 Pakistan
Pervez Musharraf Former President of Pakistan Pakistan
Tariq Majid
Hilmi Özkök Turkey
Shafi ur Rahman Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Human Rights 2000 Pakistan
Sherry Rehman Politician, journalist and ambassador[12] 2013
Anwar Shamim Air-Marshal, Pakistan Air Force
Raheel Sharif Pakistan Army Chief[11] 2013 Pakistan
Asma Jahangir [13] Human Rights activist, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 2018
Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne Chief of Defence Staff, Sri Lanka 2019 Sri Lanka
Sadruddin Hashwani Businessman 2019 Pakistan
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See also

References

Notes
  1. Citizenship at the time of awarding

Citations
  1. Note: It is usually given all together. Only Military officers from Pakistan Defence Forces are awarded the ribbon which is attached to their respected uniform
  2. Honour and Awards Policy, Government of Pakistan, archived from the original on 2007-03-02
  3. http://www.dawn.com/news/1121901, Majid Nizami, recipient of Nishan-i-Imtiaz Award, info on Dawn newspaper, Published 27 July 2014, Retrieved 28 May 2016
  4. http://aaj.tv/2016/02/faizs-105th-birth-anniversary-celebrated/, Nishan-e-Imtiaz for Faiz Ahmad Faiz on aaj.tv website, Retrieved 3 June 2016
  5. The Indian Express, Meghnad Desai (2014). "Dilip Kumar's autobiography reveals his journey from Peshawar to Bombay". p. 1. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  6. BBC News, India (2014). "Indian media: Dilip Kumar's Pakistan home a heritage site". p. 1. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  7. The Hindu, National (2016). "Dilip Kumar's home in Pak. on verge of collapse". p. 1. Archived from the original on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  8. India Today, PTI (2015). "Dilip Kumar's ancestral home in Pakistan to be turned into a museum". p. 1. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  9. http://nation.com.pk/national/17-Oct-2015/death-anniversary-of-hakim-saeed-observed, Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award for Hakim Said on The Nation newspaper, Published 17 Oct 2015, Retrieved 10 Jan 2017
  10. http://nation.com.pk/national/24-Mar-2011/NishaneImtiaz--for-PCCR-members, Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award for Khurshid Ahmad (scholar) in 2011 on The Nation newspaper, Published 24 March 2011, Retrieved 24 Jan 2017
  11. http://tribune.com.pk/story/648203/president-honours-army-chief-jcsc-head-with-nishan-e-imtiaz/, Nishan-e-Imtiaz Awards for both General Raheel Sharif and General Rashad Mahmood given by the President of Pakistan on The Express Tribune newspaper, Published 20 Dec 2013, Retrieved 10 Jan 2017
  12. "Senate of Pakistan". www.senate.gov.pk. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  13. https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/292765-asma-jahangir-junaid-jamshed-afridi-misbah-among-141-conferred-with-civil-awards
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