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Bearing Witness to History: Appealing For Justice in Tiananmen Square By a Practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) On October 6, 2000, Tiananmen Square was full of
people. Many practitioners planned to go there at noon to appeal for justice for
Falun Dafa. It came to be known by the police, and they placed many plainclothes
agents on the Square along with backups from around the country standing ready
nearby to come and take their local Falun Dafa practitioners back home. Suddenly, there arose a commotion among the crowd, probably caused by some
Falun Dafa practitioners stepping out. Police vehicles drove into the Square one
after another. A group of young men in their 20's, all with flattop haircuts and
wearing identical suits with round pins on their lapels appeared on the Square.
It was obvious that they were thugs hired specifically to beat up practitioners.
The atmosphere was suddenly tense. Uncountable pairs of eyes watched, anxious to
see what would happen next. Suddenly, the crowd rushed in, then out. Around 7-8 women sat in a circle not
far off, facing outwards with their arms linked together tightly. Some bags were
left near their feet. They all looked elderly and kind, and seemed to be trying
to protect the persons in the middle of the circle who were holding a banner.
Before people could see clearly what was happening, more than 10 of the villains
rushed over and surrounded them. At the same time, police were chasing people
away from the circle. The villains were bending down trying to pry apart the ladies sitting on the
ground, but they could not move them one bit. At this moment, one of them could
be seen raising a club high into the air, then bringing it crashing down, then
raising it again to strike another blow. They still could not move the circle.
With one more brutal blow from the club, they finally broke up the circle,
pulling one lady out. Then clubs were everywhere, raining down on the women who were pulled out one
by one. Two or three thugs grabbed one lady and forced her face-down onto the
ground. They dragged the women by their arms quickly towards the police vehicles
nearby. There seemed to be many police inside. One policeman would pull from
inside and 2 others would push from the outside. In this way they stuffed the
ladies into the vehicles one by one. Almost immediately, a cleaning vehicle and
a water truck arrived to wash away the bloody signs of violence. By this time, 4-5 police vehicles had gathered nearby, ready to be loaded
with Falun Dafa practitioners from all over the country who had come to appeal
for Dafa. The curtains were all drawn. Another police vehicle came slowly.
People could see 3-4 female cultivators sitting on the last row through the back
window where the curtain had not been drawn. One of them turned her face to look
outside. She was a young girl with bright eyes. Her face was so calm, radiating
kindness. Suddenly, the curtains were drawn, sealing the women inside and
cutting them off from the outside world. With a shout, "Hoo!" the side curtain of one waiting vehicle raised
from inside. "Falun Dafa is Good! Falun Dafa is Good!!" People were
all attracted by the sound and turned their attention to that direction. A dark
skinned, short haired middle aged lady held up the curtain with one hand. She
sat sideways and shouted with all her might so as to be heard through the
window. That very moment, time stopped. Solid, brave, solemn, and mighty are not
enough to describe her facial expression. People were deeply moved by her.
Suddenly the curtain was forcefully drawn by someone. Several seconds later, it
was raised, then drawn, raised then drawn, as if two forces were resisting each
other. That curtain was never fully raised again. It was raised halfway, quickly
drawn down and then raised a third of the way, then pulled down. Some shaking of
the curtain followed. Then it stopped moving entirely. Several police vehicles drove out filled with Dafa practitioners and more
empty vehicles came slowly. Quiet returned to the Square. Many people sat on the
ground to rest, but one man stood out. He wore black clothes and used 2
crutches. He stood on one leg, but where the other one should have been, there
was only an empty pant leg billowing in the wind. He stood there facing one
direction without moving for a long time, like a statue. Suddenly several villains ran towards a middle aged man who was holding a red
banner that he had just pulled from his pocket. He did not even have time to
raise up the banner before he was beaten down by plainclothes policemen who
twisted his arms as they brought him down. At this time, the man with the crutches could also be seen being dragged away
towards the police vehicle. What he did could not be seen, but he must have been
a Falun Dafa practitioner as well. The police inside the vehicle were very angry, pulling on his arms trying to
get him into the vehicle. At the same time, the police outside the vehicle also
pushed him. One of his crutches fell to the ground. He was holding the side of
the vehicle door with one hand tightly while the other hand held onto his
remaining crutch with much difficulty. The police could not pull him up. Those
inside the vehicle grew even angrier. There came several more arms from inside
the vehicle, and all pulled him together. He could not hold his crutch any
longer. His one leg could not touch the ground. Pushed by the police from
outside the vehicle, he lost his balance and was forced inside. A second batch
of police vehicles pulled away, once again filled with Falun Dafa practitioners. Silence fell over the Square. The heavens and earth were darker, gray colored
everything. Posting date: 11/13/2003 |