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Bearing Witness to History: Dafa Practitioners Appeal in Tiananmen Square
10/30/2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Dafa Practitioners' Appeal in Tiananmen Square on October 1, 2000 (National
Day)
It was the morning of October 1, 2000. We arrived early at the Square. There
were practitioners everywhere, and some had been there overnight waiting for the
dawn. Police and plainclothes police were also everywhere.
At around 7:30am, sounds of "Falun Dafa is Good" came from the north side of
the Square. We ran towards that direction, and many police also moved in.
Coming close, we saw Dafa practitioners protecting a Dafa banner. The police
were kicking and punching the practitioners. A practitioner's head was bleeding,
another's hair was being pulled out, yet all of them still held tight to the
banner. We joined in without hesitation. Each of us was attacked by a number of
policemen and plainclothesmen, who dragged us into the police vehicle. When the
vehicle was full, a big passenger coach took over. Yet more practitioners kept
coming, and coaches were filled up one after another.
We were taken to the Tiananmen Square Police Station. Several hundred of us
were stuffed into a lane behind the police building. Practitioners recited "Lun
Yu" (preface of Zhuan Falun) and poems from "Hong Yin" (a collection
of Teacher's poems) without stop. Some took out banners that were kept safe
and not yet used, and together we raised them high. Police wanted to take them
away, but were stopped by a wall formed by the bodies of fellow practitioners in
the front, holding their arms together. They would not let go no matter how hard
the police beat them. Together the practitioners told the police "stop beating
people!" The police had to back off.
In the afternoon, practitioners were transferred away to detention centers
and other police stations by coach. Voices of "Dafa is Good" spread to wherever
they passed. Passers-by stopped and looked on -- many Beijing citizens witnessed
this grand page of history.
Appeal on Tiananmen Square before the "Two Meetings" (People's Congress
Meeting and Political Consulting Meeting)
Around 10 AM on the morning of March 26, 2000, several Dafa practitioners
walked towards the center of the square. A policeman came over to question them
but no one answered. He waved to summon the other plainclothes officers. Two
practitioners stood in front of him while the others quickly displayed two Dafa
banners. More police rushed over to surround these practitioners. They dragged
the practitioners into police vehicles.
About the same time two other banners appeared not far away. The police again
rushed over.
Dafa Banner Shining Brightly in the Sun
One day in August 2000, four Dafa practitioners (one male, three female)
stood at the highest spot in the middle of the "Jinshui Qiao" ["Golden Water
Bridge" in front of Tiananmen] and quickly opened up their banners. The golden
letters of "Falun Dafa is Good" and "Falun Dafa is Righteous Law" were shining
brightly in the sun, standing out from the banner's red background. Many
passers-by stopped and watched.
The police and the police car came, yet the faces of the Dafa practitioners
were so serene and peaceful - they were totally unmoved. The police took their
banners by force and dragged them into the car.
Performing Dafa Exercises in Public
Around July 20 2000, a few of us who just came out from detention centers
wanted to do the exercises outdoors. We arrived at the lawn next to a major
intersection at dawn. Originally there were only 5-6 of us, but other
practitioners who learned about it also came, so there were 18 of us in total.
We started the music and began to perform the exercises. The voice of Master and
the beautiful Dafa music made us forget about danger, and the site was very
peaceful.
When we finished the exercises I saw a policeman standing behind us.
Practitioners said he had arrived a while ago, but only stood there and watched
until we finished the exercises and left.
Performing Dafa Exercises in a Detention Center
In October 2000, many practitioners went to Beijing to appeal. We were
arrested and taken back to our hometowns for detention. We wrote appeal letters
to the city and provincial governments, the 610 Offices and the Public Security
Offices from the detention center, and persisted in doing the Dafa exercises in
the detention center. In order to stop us from doing the exercises, they chained
practitioners together in pairs. Some were made to wear shackles that weighed
tens of kilograms. When one leg from each person was shackled together,
practitioners had to synchronize steps in order to walk, and their legs
blistered from rubbing against the metal ring. Yet practitioners did not give
in, they sat down facing each other, crossed up the other leg and still did the
meditation exercise.
We also protested with a hunger strike. Six days later, moved by our
determination and afraid of shouldering responsibilities if anything should go
wrong with a prolonged hunger strike, the detention center finally took off all
the shackles and agreed to send out our letters of appeal.
Validating Dafa during a Public Prosecution
Early 2001, the detention center handcuffed some practitioners and drove them
to a "Public Prosecution" gathering.
Soon after the meeting began a practitioner shouted "Falun Dafa is Good."
Over ten other practitioners responded with "Falun Dafa is Righteous Way,"
"Restore Master's Reputation." Practitioners' voices were booming one after
another. The meeting of over two thousand people was in chaos; many people stood
up.
On the stage, the officials from the city's Public Security and 610 Offices
used brutality on Dafa practitioners, allowing the more than two thousand people
there to witness their viciousness. Facing the brutal violence, Dafa
practitioners continued to sound their voices without fear. On the contrary, the
speakers were unable to read their speeches due to panic and anxiety. At the end
they dragged the practitioners out of the gathering and hastily ended this
"Public Prosecution." Dafa practitioners' solemnity and righteousness deeply shocked and restrained
the evil, while at the same time displaying Dafa's mighty power to everyone. |