Sitara-e-Shujaat: Naveed becomes first-ever ISI officer to be honoured

ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Naveed Sadiq has become the first ever Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer to be honoured with the prestigious Sitara-e-Shujaat, the second-highest award for bravery in the country. President Dr Arif Alvi awarded the ISI officer Muhammad Naveed Sadiq, Sitara-e-Shujaat for gallantry as part of the accolades announced on August 14th.

Apart from the ISI officer, 23 others were awarded the Sitara-i-Shuja'at; these included Jawwad Qamar, Hayatullah, Shafqat Ullah Malik, Safia (Shaheed), Malik Sardar Khan (Shaheed), Mumtaz Khan Dawar (Shaheed), Hayat Ullah Khan Dawar Hurmaz (Shaheed), Malik Muhammad Niaz Khan (Shaheed), Sepoy Akhtar Khan (Shaheed), Mahar Muhammad Yasir Manzoor (Shaheed), Prof Dr Mustafa Kamal Pasha (Shaheed), Prof Hafiz Maqsood Ahmad (Shaheed), Dr Bashir Ahmad (Shaheed), Dr Khalid Masood Qaisrani (Shaheed), Dr Muhammad Asif (Shaheed), Dr Shafqatullah (Shaheed), Dr Younas Channa (Shaheed), Dr Wilayat Ali Gopang (Shaheed), Prof Dr Muhammad Javed (Shaheed), Dr Munir Khan (Shaheed), Dr Usama Riaz (Shaheed), Malik Ashder (Shaheed), and Dr Muhammad Ikhlaq (Shaheed).

Among the recipients were four Chinese nationals, including Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma.

Meanwhile, a team comprising officers from the military whose efforts made the country proud internationally, and saved the nation from a penalty of $1.2 billion has been awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz. The Cabinet Secretariat on Friday released the names of 184 Pakistani and foreign nationals who were conferred civil awards for showing excellence and courage in their respective fields.

According to details, Brig Rana Arfan Shakeel Ramay, Lt Col Farooq Shahbaz, and International Dispute Unit Head Ahmed Irfan Aslam worked hard in gathering information from Swiss, Lebanese, and Dubai banks regarding the corruption of Turkish power rental company, Karkey.

The officials also collected documents from Panama and British Virgin Islands, which proved useful in winning the case against the firm. As a result of their fool-proof investigations, Karkey was forced to withdraw six cases it has filed against Pakistan, thus, saving the nation from heavy penalties and international embarrassment.

The team, headed by Brig Ramay, would be conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz for public service on March 23rd, 2021. The ICSID - an arm of the World Bank that offers arbitration and conciliation services for disputes between governments and private foreign investors - had slapped a penalty worth $760 million plus interest to the Turkish ship-based energy firm, Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim, following the latter's move to register arbitration claims against Pakistan under a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

In September 2017, it had decided in favour of Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim and imposed a fine. The Turkish firm had registered a claim with the ICSID against Pakistan in 2013 over the violation of a contract worth as much as $564.6 million for a five-year period to build rental power plants in Karachi.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020