Chowk Columnist, Dr Khalid Sohail, has been honored with an award of “Humanist of the Year (2006)” by the Humanist Association of Toronto, for his contributions to humanism. Citation is appended below.

Chowk Staff is pleased to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Sohail on receiving this honor.

Chowk Staff


Humanist Association of Toronto

The Humanist Association of Toronto (HAT) is an independent, non-profit, charitable organization.

We promote Secular Humanism and the separation of church and state.

Humanists honour psychiatrist and writer Dr. Khalid Sohail

A Whitby, Ontario psychiatrist and writer has been recognized by the Humanist Association of Toronto for his contributions to humanism.

Dr. Khalid Sohail, author of From Islam to Secular Humanism, has been awarded the Toronto Humanist of the Year award for 2006. Dr. Sohail runs the Creative Psychotherapy Clinic in Whitby, and has published essays, poetry, travelogues, and stories in English, Urdu and Punjabi. His writings convey his professional understanding of how to live a happy life, as well as expounding humanist philosophy.

The Toronto Humanist of the Year award is given every year to a resident of the Greater Toronto area who, by actions and creative endeavours, exemplifies the principles of Humanism: a commitment to reason, compassion, ethics and human dignity. Previous winners have been writer Pierre Berton, community activist June Callwood, and Sharia law opponent Homa Arjomand.

Dr. Sohail expressed his pride in receiving the honour. "In the 21st century, humanity is at a crossroads and all of us have choices. We can choose the path of self-destruction and commit collective suicide or choose the road of peace with ourselves and harmony with other human beings as well as Mother Nature. I hope we choose the path of peace and harmony based on secular humanistic principles so that we can grow to the next step of evolution by becoming fully human individually and collectively. I hope our tomorrows are better than our yesterdays."

Click here to see a video of the presentation and Dr. Sohail’s response.