It is astonishing to learn that an educated (BBA graduate), 27-year-old man and parent of a baby girl, Saad Aziz, could kill Sabeen Mahmud, The 2nd Floor’s (T2F’s) café director, moments after she finished a seminar on Balochistan, ‘Unsilencing Balochistan’, on April 24, 2015. Aziz told the police that the crime committed by Ms Mahmud was that of holding a Valentine’s Day rally. He was a regular attendee of the seminars held at Ms Mahmud’s café, followed her activities and had been a terrorist since 2009.If the findings of this incident are generalised for the greater good of society, it is indicative of at least five major phenomena prevalent in society. Firstly, radicalisation is not just confined to those educated at a religious seminary and is more viral than it was first believed to be. Secondly, a counterculture of religious bigotry exists amongst the (western) educated lot. Its relatively infrequent expression does not rule out its palpable presence. Thirdly, people can be self-motivated to assume the role of vigilantes in society where mob mentality is influencing individuals. Fourth, the cleft between the conservative right and the liberal left is widening rapidly. One group considers itself marginalised in society because of the other and starts to defend its contours. Fifth, the struggle for dominance between the forces of the right and left is surfacing. More such incidents may happen in the future.Attached to this incident is the attack on a bus carrying members of Karachi’s Ismaili community on May 13 at Safoora, Karachi, by unidentified motorcyclists who killed more than 40 passengers on board. Aziz was found to be the mastermind (or main suspect) of that incident as well. It is said that Aziz had a history of radicalisation through personal meetings with certain personalities and reading fundamental material by religious revolutionary movements in the Middle East. Whatever the reason, the expression of his radicalisation took place in Pakistan and Pakistanis bore the brunt.What seems common between a religiously educated killer and a worldly educated killer is intolerance for disagreement. The question is this: in how many educational institutes of Pakistan can we find respect for opposing points of view? Generally, conformity and compliance are the two major lessons delivered to students of all kinds through rote learning and other educational methods. Conformity and compliance are considered religious and social virtues. Aziz might have learnt the skills of a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, but that was not a failsafe against his radicalisation. Did the milieu of IBA teach him to look at the world from a different perspective? Aziz must have gotten admission into IBA on the basis of his past knowledge and intelligence. Interestingly, these qualities did not help with the grooming of his personality, which can only be developed in an atmosphere of debate to help a person rationally accept views other than his own. The atmosphere of debate is first provided at home and then at an educational institution. Aziz must have not found that atmosphere at any one level or both. The same must be the case for his other accomplices. For instance, Muhammad Azhar Ishrat is an electronics engineer who studied at the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology and is considered an expert in making time bombs. He has been a terrorist since 2011. No one has so far interviewed Aziz’s wife.There is another dimension to this issue. In Pakistan, psychiatric ailments are still under-diagnosed. The general bonhomie in society keeps their symptoms below the red line of societal alertness unless these people get provoked. In fact, at the societal level, there is insufficient awareness to differentiate between a normal and abnormal attitude deciphering a kind of personality. The added dilemma is that sentimentalism is not only acclaimed in society but is also valued as a measure of one’s loyalty towards a cause, be the cause family, religion or country. The more one is sentimental about a cause, the more one is considered loyal towards it. Nevertheless, one can argue that both sentiments and emotions are normal human characteristics. The answer is that for a child to be sentimental and emotional is one thing but for a mature person it is a different thing altogether. This kind of social upbringing fails to teach individuals how to overcome their sentiments and emotions, producing psychopaths who can rob a society of its normalcy.Attached to the Ms Mahmud’s murder was also the societal propensity for knee-jerk reactions. Heaping accusations upon spy agencies, whether local or foreign, rather than thinking analytically were the hallmarks of the days following her murder, until the bus was attacked and culprits were apprehended. It was claimed on social media that she was killed in the name of the country but it turned out that she was killed in the name of religion. Two reasons for the poor analysis were people’s impatience and belief of conspiracy theories. Social media has given voice to those who can malign anyone by remaining anonymous. Unlike certain countries in the Middle East, Pakistan has not yet been caught up in the storm of religious revitalisation or any kind of social upheaval. Nevertheless, it is high time for social scientists to explore this issue further and come up with solutions. The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com