http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/it-made-china-see-red-lal-masjid/
"Andrew Small, in his book The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics (2015), tells the story few in Pakistan know. The strategic threshold was crossed by Aziz when he grabbed the Chinese, and he was finally confronted because Beijing had pushed Islamabad. Beijing was forced to react because an assertive section of Chinese society had taken the incident as “a test of the Communist Party’s backbone”. Some critics sent “mocking packages of calcium pills” to the Chinese foreign office. The Chinese ambassador in Islamabad, Luo Zhaohui, pursued the matter with great determination. An expert on the region, Luo got around unlike the average Chinese diplomat, and approached the “influentials” who could help. He was soon talking on the phone to Lal Masjid. The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas! Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs."
"Andrew Small, in his book The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics (2015), tells the story few in Pakistan know. The strategic threshold was crossed by Aziz when he grabbed the Chinese, and he was finally confronted because Beijing had pushed Islamabad. Beijing was forced to react because an assertive section of Chinese society had taken the incident as “a test of the Communist Party’s backbone”. Some critics sent “mocking packages of calcium pills” to the Chinese foreign office. The Chinese ambassador in Islamabad, Luo Zhaohui, pursued the matter with great determination. An expert on the region, Luo got around unlike the average Chinese diplomat, and approached the “influentials” who could help. He was soon talking on the phone to Lal Masjid. The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas! Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs."
Andrew
Small, in his book The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics
(2015), tells the story few in Pakistan know. The strategic threshold
was crossed by Aziz when he grabbed the Chinese, and he was finally
confronted because Beijing had pushed Islamabad. Beijing was forced to
react because an assertive section of Chinese society had taken the
incident as “a test of the Communist Party’s backbone”. Some critics
sent “mocking packages of calcium pills” to the Chinese foreign office.
The Chinese ambassador in Islamabad, Luo Zhaohui, pursued the matter
with great determination. An expert on the region, Luo got around unlike
the average Chinese diplomat, and approached the “influentials” who
could help. He was soon talking on the phone to Lal Masjid.
The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas!
Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/it-made-china-see-red-lal-masjid/#sthash.ssqr0foj.dpuf
The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas!
Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/it-made-china-see-red-lal-masjid/#sthash.ssqr0foj.dpuf
Andrew
Small, in his book The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics
(2015), tells the story few in Pakistan know. The strategic threshold
was crossed by Aziz when he grabbed the Chinese, and he was finally
confronted because Beijing had pushed Islamabad. Beijing was forced to
react because an assertive section of Chinese society had taken the
incident as “a test of the Communist Party’s backbone”. Some critics
sent “mocking packages of calcium pills” to the Chinese foreign office.
The Chinese ambassador in Islamabad, Luo Zhaohui, pursued the matter
with great determination. An expert on the region, Luo got around unlike
the average Chinese diplomat, and approached the “influentials” who
could help. He was soon talking on the phone to Lal Masjid.
The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas!
Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/it-made-china-see-red-lal-masjid/#sthash.ssqr0foj.dpuf"
The state reached for its Taliban-friendly influentials and made them intercede with Aziz. The intercession failed and the bearded elite of the faith withdrew in puzzlement, little knowing Lal Masjid was heeding a far more important message from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri: “This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood… If you do not retaliate… Musharraf will not spare any of you. Your salvation is only through jihad”. At one point, Aziz and his brother Ghazi seemed to relent, allowing Luo to talk to the hostages and promised their release. But nothing materialised. Then the marathon five-hour telephone negotiation began, with Musharraf himself interceding, while the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police in Islamabad begged and pledged “corrective action” against “mixed-sex massage parlours”. According to Small, the pledge clinched the deal. The Chinese prisoners were released, with Ghazi announcing: “We released them in view of Pakistan-China friendship. After receiving a number of complaints regarding ‘sex business’, our students and people… took action that should have been taken by the government. We greatly respect Pakistan-China friendship but it doesn’t mean that foreign women can come here and indulge in such vulgar activities.” The Chinese women came out of the seminary wearing burqas!
Small observes: “Word leaked out that… China was attributing the instigation of the kidnappings to the influence of militants from China’s Uighur minority at Lal Masjid”. What the Chinese knew was news to Pakistan, so out-of-bounds was the Lal Masjid set-up. After Operation Silence, foreign and local warriors were found among the dead. Of the dead, 12 were Uyghurs.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/it-made-china-see-red-lal-masjid/#sthash.ssqr0foj.dpuf"
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