(Clearwisdom.net)
In October 1999, I was unlawfully kidnapped and sentenced to forced labor in the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. In December 1999, I was sent to the No. 1 Division of the camp to be detained with a group of criminals that had committed robbery, theft, drug-offenses, fraud, prostitution, etc. When they first met us Falun Gong practitioners, they treated us very viciously, as they had been deceived by the lies of the regime's evil propaganda. Incited by corrupt policemen, they cursed at us, stole our few possessions, and cruelly beat us.
There were also many people assigned by the police to keep us under constant surveillance. However, practitioners kept clarifying the truth to them and awakening their compassion, and also showed them the main book of Falun Gong, Zhuan Falun. Practitioners' righteous thoughts, actions, selflessness, tolerance and kindness deeply touched these prisoners and they gradually changed their demeanor, gradually coming to see through the evils' lies. Some of them even started to cultivate. We became good friends with some of these prisoners, so much so that when we read Dafa books, they no longer stopped us and sometimes even looked out for us while we read.
In 2000, in order to force us to give up cultivation, the labor camp set up a division specifically to detain Falun Gong practitioners. They also dispatched a group of collaborators (former practitioners who have turned against Dafa under pressure) from the No. 2 Division and detained them together with us. When we left our friends in the other division, they cried and hugged us, saddened to see us go.
After arriving in our new detention area, there was a time when the collaborators beat us fiercely. I thought about these collaborators, who had walked together with us hand in hand before, but now they treated us violently and cruelly. I not only felt physical pain, but also my heart was aching. I felt sad for my former fellow practitioners transformed by evil to become such fierce thugs.
One prisoner saw from the way I looked that something was awry, and she kept asking me why, so I told her about what happened. She was very angry and asked their leader, "Those Falun Gong practitioners were beaten. They're so honest and kind. Even we are unwilling to beat them, but these people dare to. We need to teach them a lesson, or they'll keep doing this."
Though these prisoners had righteous thoughts, they didn't know how to take peaceful means to solve the problem. I tried to stop them and they told us, "You practice Falun Gong and will never retaliate no matter how badly you are beaten or cursed. We don't care. If those people beat you, we will beat them. Let's see whether they will dare to beat you again after that." These prisoners were big and strong, and I could not stop them. They pointed and swore at the collaborators, and the collaborators were quite frightened. The prisoners told me, "If they beat you again, let us know. What kind of society is this? People like us who always bully others don't have the heart to mistreat Falun Gong practitioners. How could they do it?"
The collaborators believed that I had asked the prisoners to turn against them. So they swore at me behind my back, but did not dare to beat me or even to mention my name again in front of them. Looking at these poor souls who have been twisted by the brainwashing and persecution in the labor camp, I felt deep pity for them.
(To be continued)