“It just seemed like the right time to go,” said Siddiqui, who was given a series of farewell parties in Riyadh including a grand farewell function at the IISR in the capital on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion after receiving congratulations, Siddiqui recounted his stint as the principal and the gradual growth of the IISR, which can boast to have close to 10,000 students on its roll and over 750 teachers and support staff.
The farewell function was also attended and addressed by IISR managing committee members, officials and staff including chairman Mohammed Aslam Meer Mohideen and member Mohammad Firoz Rahman.
Varied tributes and memorials were expressed in a poignantly nostalgic setting at the IISR function. Prominent speakers included senior school officials like Asma Shah, Meera Rahman and Shaheen Haider.
Siddiqui, in fact, is retiring because he has reached the usual retirement age of 60 years. His job contract was extended but he wanted to be relieved to go back to India to run an NGO in the field of education and to work toward full enforcement of the provisions of the Right to Education Act of India.
Asked about his future endeavors, Siddiqui said: “The plan is to start the NGO from the north Indian city of Aligarh with an office in New Delhi.”
Siddiqui  started his career as a postgraduate chemistry teacher at Aligarh Muslim University School Minto Circle in 1975. He and his wife have started a school for rag pickers and poor children in India. This is in addition to several commendations during his tenure at IISR.