Background
Siddiqui was born in the village of Dondi Lohara, Communist Party, British India on September 15, 1931.
Siddiqui was born in the village of Dondi Lohara, Communist Party, British India on September 15, 1931.
Not to be confused with Doctor Kalim Siddiqui from the University of Huddersfield- )
He became increasing involved in politics as a teenager, when during a small demonstration close to his home town a bullet fired by a British soldier barely missed him, killing the youth behind him. After the creation of the state of Pakistan he briefly joined the Khilafat Movement in Karachi and became the editor of its newspaper, The Independent Leader. In the mid 1960s he put himself through college and university, taking a degree in Economics and then, in 1972, a Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations from University College, London.
He publicly declared his support for the Islamic Revolution in Iran of 1979, and was later a defender of Ayatullah Khomeini"s fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
Along with other members of the movement, he moved to London in the early 1950s.