On the 23rd of March, the President of Pakistan confers upon a selected number of people, State Honors. These can be Military and Civilian Honors. The point of this ceremony is to recognize people for their services to Pakistan and its people.
The complete list for Civilian Honors recipients came in over the past few days.
Actress Reema is being the coveted ‘Pride of Performance’, while singers Ataullah Khan Esakhelvi and Sajjad Ali are being bestowed the ‘Sitara E Imtiaz’.
Among the celebrities, receiving awards on the 23rd is Mehwish Hayat.
The actress will be receiving the ‘Tamgha E Imtiaz.’
In an interview with Dawn, the actress had this to say about the news: “I was very humbled by the news that the President of Pakistan has decided to bestow this honor upon me. For me, I have simply been pursuing my passion and to be recognized in this way with one of the highest civil awards is recognition that I must be doing something right.
I took the decision very early to remain in Pakistan and to focus on building our nascent industry and I am proud of my contribution. For the past five years, I have been blessed with some of the biggest hits of Pakistani cinema.”
As this news spread, Pakistanis across social media began expressing their feelings.
@ArifAlvi WT*? Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for @MehwishHayat ? What for? Is she performing 'main hon billi' on 23rd March? Tamgha-i-Imtiaz was never been this cheap.
P.S: I'm PTI voter.
— Ahsan S. Sher (@_ahsansher) March 12, 2019
People were suggesting replacements for Mehwish.
So Mehwish Hayat is going to receive " Tamgha e Imtiaz " on 23rd March from the President. Would I be wrong to say that ASP Suhai Aziz Talpur who lead the Operation Against terrorists who Attacked Karachi Chinese Consulate in November last year was more deserving for this Award ?
— Mubashir. (@Sheromalik) March 12, 2019
Top of the replacement list was Lahore Qalandars’ owner, Fawad Rana.
If @MehwishHayat is getting Civil award then i must say @lahoreqalandars owner Mr. Rana Fawad is more deserving candidate. The SOUL of #PSL
— Uncle Majboor (@UncleMajboor_) March 12, 2019
While this person spelled out quite an interesting future for the National Civilian Awards.
In Coming Years#Nurgis will be awarded with Tamgaa e Jurrat
Matheera will be awarded with Tamge e Shujaat
Naseeb o laal will be awarded with Nishan e Haider on AMMI G AMMI G voice over
And please suggest award for Uncle Majboor #MehwishHayat #NobelPrize #NayaPakistan pic.twitter.com/8ljtb99Z8q— shayaan (@its_shayann) March 12, 2019
A lot of people were concerned with WHY she’s being given this award.
Wo poochna tha @MehwishHayat ko #prideofperformance award “billi” song kee waja se mil raha ? #PTIGovernment #ImranKhan #pmik @pid_gov #pakistan @ArifAlvi @fawadchaudhry
— umar iqbal (@umariqbal1984) March 12, 2019
Mehwish hayat is receiving Tamgha e Imtiaz on which capacity ?
Shocking Really want to C the criteria or judgement scales.@nomankhan25dec get ready we are the next if she gets it.#tamgha #Bilawaja— Rana Jahanzaib (@RanaJahanzaib91) March 12, 2019
Some comments on the matter were genuinely vile and rude.
Read Mehwish Hayat will be conferred with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz on 23rd March. For what exactly? Knowing her history and background, one can only speculate that the president used to visit her for some extra-curricular meetings. #Pakistan #PakistanDay
— Yashar Khan (@khanyashar) March 11, 2019
People were wondering why they weren’t being considered for awards.
(To be clear, it’s not the ‘Pride of Performance’ she receiving, it is the ‘Tamgha E Imtiaz’)
If Mehwish Hayat can get Pride of Performance award, then I'm eligible for Sitara-e-Twitter award.period.
— AR🥊 (@ARfrom1947) March 12, 2019
The actress was called names.
She took the pride to handle both : Mehwish Hayat and Mehwish Wahiyat.
— Farhan Khan (@FarhankhanPk) March 12, 2019
Haan haan, not like she’s done any work or acted in films.
I think president arif alffie ne izka insta dekh ke izey tomgha-e-imtiaz dene ka phaisla kiya ee.#MehwishHayat pic.twitter.com/bzofRGXBal
— Bhootna (@ChillBhootna) March 12, 2019
Some simply couldn’t believe it.
Again, some people just equated this to her performance in ‘Na Maloom Afraad’
Now, of course, we do not know the criteria of these awards, nor do we know the selection process, however, we do know Mehwish Hayat’s career. In a short span of time, she given us highly rated dramas and also contributed massively to the Pakistani Box Office.
In terms of reliability, Mehwish Hayat has delivered some of Pakistan’s most recent hit films, for example, ‘Actor In Law’, ‘Jawani Phir Nahin Aani’ and ‘Punjab Nahin Jaongi’. Two of these films crossed the PKR 50 Crore mark, which is an amazing feat for an actor or actress to achieve. Other actors might be more popular and might be doing more on an international scale, however, looking purely at her contributions to Pakistani cinema, you cannot deny that Mehwish has done a lot to get where she is today.
We’d like to extend our congratulations and thanks to Mehwish Hayat for her work in Pakistani Cinema. More power to you!
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Cover Photo Courtesy: ARY Films