Mumbai: Residents, friends mourn ‘dildaar Bandra boy’ Baba Siddique who was accessible to all

MUMBAI: A street smart "Bandra boy", a go-getter with a heart of gold. Some residents, neighbours and friends who had known Baba Siddique for years said he would help everyone who approached him.
The thousands who arrived to pay their last respects to him on Sunday evening was a testimony of the lives he had touched. The former minister and three-time MLA was accorded a state funeral and interred at Bada Qabrastan, Marine Lines.
Pali Hill resident and Congress functionary Asif Farooqui, who had known him since his nascent days of social work, said, "His father (Abdul Rahim Siddique) would create a temporary facility for namaz during Ramzan at his building, and I remember him helping his father. He would ride a scooter and get civic and other works done. That's how he got early exposure in social work. Later, he learnt the ropes under the tutelage of actor-MP Sunil Dutt sahab."
Educationist and former MP Akhtar Hasan Rizvi, who had known him since his days in Youth Congress, called him a "good organiser and secular person". "He was accessible to all. His popularity transcended class and communities."
Social activist Mudassar Patel said he contributed magnanimously at Ramzan ration distribution events. Much has been said about Siddique's annual iftars for celebrities, but Congress MLA Amin Patel said he cared equally for the poor. Al Nasser Zakaria, son of former MLA Salim Zakaria who helped Siddique become a corporator in the early 1990s, recalled that he was "dildaar" (generous). "Nobody returned empty-handed from his home. He worked tirelessly during Covid," he said.
Madhu Poplai, secretary of Pali Hill Residents Association, described him as a politician who rarely refused to help with civic issues. "He lived in the locality and had a deep understanding of its challenges. I vividly remember him standing with us on Nargis Dutt Road at 3am while it was being laid. That road lasted over 15 years. He never considered a person's political leanings when they sought his help."
The funeral rituals began at Siddique's Bandra home after dusk. The coffin was draped in the traditional shroud of red roses and white tuberose blossoms. Over it was a white bordered tricolour. A musical band playing salutations walked beside the cortège. Accompanied by police escort, the ambulance left at 8.30pm and arrived at Bada Qabrastan at 9.30pm. At 9.45pm, police offered gunfire salute as trumpets blew. NCP, Congress and RPI functionaries, including Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, Sanjay Dina Patil and Ramdas Athawale, were present. Once the state tributes concluded, immediate family members, led by Zeeshan, performed the burial after 10pm. (With inputs from Bella Jaisinghani & Richa Pinto)