Who was behind the blast?

Never blow her top and stay calm, he said.

But, I continued, how difficult it would be for any person to remain in self control after going through that night of horror. A military convoy or a democracy caravan, nothing is safe today. Who do you think was behind the blast?

The one who lives to die and dies to live forever, Mr Right replied.

Who’s that? I asked.

A suicide bomber , he said. Everybody in Pakistan knows it — people, politicians and police. Even the interior minister knows it.

No, I mean, who had sent that messenger of death? I said.

Mr Right, who claims to know everything and is always ready to offer the right answers to most difficult questions, was again quick to reply: Those who love to play the 'hate and hit' game.

Mohtarma herself thinks some individuals not organisations were involved in it, but her better half has called it a work of secret agencies, I pointed out.

Mohtarma’s better half's view is only half better, Mr Right said. This must be the work of those who operate secretly. Agencies are efficient in these matters but in this particular case, he seems to have been misquoted by the media to create a misunderstanding between husband and wife, Mr Right remarked.

But sir, I asked Mr Right, who are the individuals pinpointed by Mohtarma?

Anybody who has got a lot of friends has no dearth of enemies too, Mr Right said. Mohtarma also has a fair share of such 'friends'. Therefore, it's really strange that only three persons have figured on her list of persona non grata.

But who are these three fellows. Any clues? I insisted.

Call them A, B and C — Anonymous, Brain-washed and Cruel, Mr Right said.

Well, I said, it seems to be a perfect description of 'death squads' unleashed by forces of extremism. I can’t understand why only youngsters from 14 years to 24-year-olds are recruited for death missions. Why the so-called ‘gate-keepers of paradise’ are issuing them free passes to heavenly abode in return of their untimely death, I asked.

Because the old ones are too busy in dividing the people on one pretext or the other and creating chaos in this world, Mr Right said. They teach them how to die. Nobody tells them them how to live for the betterment of their family and community.

Mr Right said, Only the youngsters, the ‘bold and the beautiful’ of the nation are being sacrificed. Obviously, they are doing the same thing to the younger generation of our people which the Faraun had done with the children of Bani Israel.

I said had Akbar Allahabadi been alive today and seen the youth dying in suicide attacks he would have surely amended his famous line ‘Afsos key Faraun Ko College Ki Na Soojhi’, as ‘Afsos Key Faraun Ko ‘Yeh Baat’ Na Soojhi’.

Mr Right, how people are going to change all this. The situation can improve only when the whole community, government, public and politicians join hands to tackle the beast by the horn? I said.

A Herculean task indeed. Mohtarma has survived the first brush with death. And that is because 300 goats and sheep were sacrificed and 140 people laid their precious lives. Not every leader can afford this price for life, Mr Right said.

Najmul Hasan Rizvi is Assistant Editor with Khaleej Times.