<h3><br />''</h3>Noted India-born Pakistani poet and human rights activist Fahmida Riaz has passed away following a prolonged illness in Lahore, Pakistan. She was  73.  Riaz, who fled Pakistan during former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq's rule and lived in self-exile in India for nearly seven years, had been unwell for the past few months. She was born into a literary family of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and settled in Hyderabad in Sindh Province. She always raised her voice for women rights and democracy in Pakistan.   <br />''<br />