Khwaja Muhammad Saleem Sadiq, born in Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

 on August 27, 1929, was a pioneer of wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. He was a secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

 to the Pakistan Wrestling Federation and manager

Manager (professional wrestling)

In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

 to Bholu Brothers, one of the most popular wrestling teams in Pakistan.

Life and career

In his school life, he was the captain of the Government College Amritsar hockey team. After the Partition of India

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

, he moved to Pakistan where he met The Great Gama

The Great Gama

The "Great" Gama also known as "Gama Pahelvan", and "Lion of the Punjab", born Ghulam Muhammad , in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, was a renowned wrestler, warrior and a practitioner of Pehlwani wrestling. He was awarded the South Asian version of the World Heavyweight Championship on October...

 and Imam Baksh Pahalwan

Imam Baksh Pahalwan

Imam Baksh was a renowned wrestler and a practitioner of the Indian wrestling style of Pehlwani. Imam was also the brother of Ghulam "the great Gama" Muhammad...

 along with the other wrestling figures and took the challenge of uplifting the age-old art of wrestling.

In 1952, he arranged bout between the top local wrestlers, Hameeda and Bholu Pahalwan

Bholu Pahalwan

Bholu was one of the most popular wrestlers of 1950s. His name has been recorded in the annals of wrestling. Bholu originates from aGujjar family of renowned wrestlers from Amritsar, Punjab. He lived in Amritsar till age 9. Then during one of his school holidays Bholu moved to Patiala to visit his...

. Khwaja Nazimuddin

Khawaja Nazimuddin

Hajji Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, KCIE , was the second Governor-General of Pakistan, and later the second Prime Minister of Pakistan as well.-Early life:...

, then Governor-General of Pakistan

Governor-General of Pakistan

The Governor-General of Pakistan was the representative in Pakistan of the Crown from the country's independence in 1947. When Pakistan was proclaimed a republic in 1956 the connection with the British monarchy ended, and the office of Governor-General was abolished.-History:Pakistan gained...

, was the chief guest of this match. In 1953, with the invasion of free style wrestling

Amateur wrestling

Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA : Greco-Roman and freestyle. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style...

, Saleem organized series of bouts between the Bholu brothers and the wrestling giants of the west like Bill Verna

Bill Verna

Bill Verna , also known as Big Bill Verna, was an Australian professional wrestler. He wrestled throughout the world during his 20-year career, especially in his adopted country of Great Britain, winning the All European Championship and the British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship...

 and Ski Hi Lee

Ski Hi Lee

Robert E. Leedy was a heavyweight professional wrestler who began his career around the end of the Second World War and was active for some twenty years. He is best known as Ski Hi Lee. His name is sometimes written as Ski-Hi Lee, Sky Hi Lee, Sky-Hi Lee or Sky High Lee and there may be other...

.

During the late 60s and the early 70s, Saleem booked Kid Zamboa of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 to train them in free style wrestling

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...

. This was followed by tours of Pakistani wrestlers to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 arranged through correspondence by Saleem. At the alien squared ring, the Pakistanis won the applause of crowd as well as the media with their traditional holds combined with free style tactics. Saleem toured Europe multiple times with the Bholu brothers where he organized bouts in collaboration with Orig Williams

Orig Williams

Orig Williams was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the pseudonym "El Bandito", and after retiring as a fighter he became a promoter, manager and television presenter...

, the famous British wrestling promoter. He held meetings with Hisashi Shinma

Hisashi Shinma

Hisashi Shinma was a figurehead president of World Wrestling Entertainment, then known as the World Wrestling Federation and World Wide Wrestling Federation, from 1978 to 1984...

, a figurehead president of World Wrestling Federation.

Saleem invited Japanese wrestling king Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki

is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...

 twice to Pakistan. The bout with Akram Pahalwan

Akram Pahalwan

Akram Pahalwan , also known as Iki Pehlwan was a well-known Pakistani wrestler and a part of the Bholu Brothers Tag Team in professional wrestling during the late 1960's. He fought most of his wrestling matches with foreign wrestlers in distant countries and also within Pakistan...

 in National Stadium, Karachi

National Stadium, Karachi

The National Stadium is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently used for cricket matches, and is home to Karachi's domestic cricket teams. The stadium is able to hold 34,228 spectators, making it the second largest cricket stadium in Pakistan after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore...

 and then with Jhara Pahalwan

Jhara Pahalwan

JHARA Pahalwan was a well known professional wrestler in Pakistan. He belongs to a prominent wrestling family. He was the Pakistani Champion of the past era. He was a powerhouse of wrestling like his father Aslam Pahalwan. He was also a master of the art of mud-wrestling like his uncle Bholu...

 in Gaddafi Stadium

Gaddafi Stadium

Gaddafi Stadium is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by Daghestani-born architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan who also designed Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. Following the ground's renovation for the 1996 Cricket World...

, Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 drew record crowds. Saleem also invited the Indian wrestler, Tiger Jeet Singh

Tiger Jeet Singh

Jagjit Singh Hans is a semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth . Singh wrestled in Japan for 22 years...

, to Pakistan. In the 1980s, he toured UAE

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

 with the famous Pakistani wrestler, Nasir Bholu

Nasir Bholu

Nasir Bholu , is a retired Pakistani professional wrestler and the last surviving member of the "Bholu Brothers" wrestling team. He belongs to the Gama Wrestling family. Nasir Bholu was a wrestler during the 1980’s. He debuted in wrestling by defeating Yasir Ali of U.A.E. in November 1979...

, the son of legendary Bholu Pahalwan

Bholu Pahalwan

Bholu was one of the most popular wrestlers of 1950s. His name has been recorded in the annals of wrestling. Bholu originates from aGujjar family of renowned wrestlers from Amritsar, Punjab. He lived in Amritsar till age 9. Then during one of his school holidays Bholu moved to Patiala to visit his...

. Besides wrestling, Saleem made valuable contributions to Martial Arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 in Pakistan by promoting Grand Master Ashraf Tai

Ashraf Tai

Muhammad Ashraf Ali Tai is a martial artist and one of the most famous Grandmasters in Pakistan. As a pioneer of martial arts in Pakistan, he laid the foundation of Pakistan Karate Federation, and succeeded in having the body affiliated with the Pakistan Olympic Association as well as the Pakistan...

.

Saleem played key role in the history of Pakistani wrestling. On numerous occasions, he was interviewed by Pakistan Television Corporation

Pakistan Television Corporation

The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...

 and Radio Pakistan. He also appeared on the South American Channels and was interviewed by The Ring Magazine on his trip to America. Saleem brought out a quarterly magazine called 'Sports Review

Sports Review

Sports Review was an early British television programme, produced by the BBC and screened on their BBC Television Service in the late 1930s. It was the first regular sports programme to be transmitted on television....

' to project his love for wrestling and other sports. Lateef Jafri, senior sports correspondent of Dawn

Dawn (newspaper)

Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...

, hailed him as a thorough gentleman.

Major General Mujeeb ur Rehman, former secretary Ministry of Information and Chairman PTV

Pakistan Television Corporation

The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...

 once said, "Mr. Saleem Sadiq has done a lot in promoting this game in Pakistan. I wish there were more like him so that people here could see some of the best wrestlers in the world play in Pakistan."

Muhammad Saleem Sadiq died on October 31, 1999. Prominent sport figures and patrons, former Defense Secretary Aftab Ahmed Khan

Aftab Ahmed Khan

Aftab Ahmed Khan is a former Indian Police Service officer, turned politician from Mumbai, India, noted for his encounter killings of gangsters from the Mumbai organized crime syndicates....

, his long time friend and famous banker Humayun Sadiq, former Mohtasib-e-Ala Mr. Waseem, commissioner Mr. Sardar, close friend Mr. Mueed, Abid Islam Butt, Grand Master Ashraf Tai, renowned sports writer from Daily Jang

Daily Jang

The Daily Jang is an Urdu newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous publication since its foundation in 1939. Its current Group Chief Executive & Editor-in-Chief is Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman....

Mr. Shams ul Zaman and others attended his funeral to pay their respects.