About

Born in 1963 in Multan, the ‘City of Saintsʼ, Sufi philosophy strongly influenced Musadiqʼs life, music and writings. Belonging to a family averse to performing arts, he left Multan in his teens to pursue arts at the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore. He became one of the NCA’s icons of resistance during General Zia’s years martial law year, sustaining serious injuries while leading a growing student movement for art activism. Musadiq was also part of the vanguard of progressive movements for the revival of Punjabi and Seraiki arts, at the Punjab Lok Rehas. His political consciousness was to continue throughout his life, finding expression in performing arts and online journalism.

Musadiq migrated to his adopted city Karachi in l988. Dedicating himself to full-time theatre in the 1990s, he founded the Baang Theatre. He alongside continued several projects beyond theatre with indigenous artists, rights advocacy, and multimedia communication in private advertising.

Musadiq’s abode in Karachi became home to journalists and future artists including the celebrated writer Muhammed Hanif , poet Hasan Mujtaba amongst several others. His foray into cyber journalism came in 2003, which remained his foremost profession till his untimely passing in 2014. Alongside, he continued to pursue his artistic instincts with writing, music and video productions and later set up the Blue Koel music studio a popular place for young musicians.

Musadiq Sanwal and Shehla Zaidi married in 1996 despite family opposition, in a small Nikkah ceremony witnessed only by Baang members. He died after eighteen years of marriage  from sudden onset of lung cancer in 2014 leaving his first poetry compilation with Shehla for posthumous publication. Musadiq’s children, Dara and Surath Sanwal were brought up in the background of Sanwal’s camaraderie of music, cyberjournalism and Shehla’s academic work.