What is William Putscher doing in the novel's opening pages?

In the novel's opening pages, William Putscher, a government auditor, was beginning lunch in the U.S. embassy in Islamabad on 21 November 19979. Suddenly, violent rioters crashed the facility which compelled Putscher to attempt to hide, but he was soon found and was taken prisoner. The kidnappers transported him several miles away to Quaid-I-Azam University where they informed him he would be tried for crimes against the Islamic movement.