Bearing Witness to History--Falun Dafa Practitioners Appeal in Front of the Hubei Provincial Government Building

(Clearwisdom.net) On July 20, 1999, the chief assistants from each Falun Dafa volunteer center in all provinces and cities were arrested. As a result, many Falun Dafa practitioners went to appeal to their local governments, and request that all levels of the government learn the truth about Falun Dafa and release all detained Falun Dafa practitioners. Below are my personal experiences appealing to the Hubei provincial government.

On the afternoon of July 21, 1999, I learned that the chief assistant from our provincial level volunteer center was arrested the day before. I decided to immediately go to the provincial government to appeal, and to tell them the facts about Falun Dafa and that Falun Dafa is great! Also, that we need to stop this persecution before more innocent people are harmed. I thought, as a citizen who has benefited from practicing Falun Dafa, I should voice my concerns when Dafa is being treated unfairly.

Around 5 p.m., I came to Hongshan Square by bus, and walked towards the headquarters of the provincial government, near Fruit Lake. I found many people were quietly walking in the same direction as me. I realized that many Falun Dafa practitioners had come. I saw many fellow practitioners standing along the wall of the government building in straight lines, saving 2/3 of the sidewalk for passersby. There was no noise. It was very quiet, with an atmosphere that was very solemn and sacred. I heard that practitioners who came earlier had already sent our representatives into the building, but the officials who receive appeals went to get guidance from higher levels of authority, and the higher authorities were refusing to show their faces. So we waited patiently outside in good order.

Around 6 p.m., there were about 4,000 of us. Among us there were young students, army personnel, senior citizens in their 70s, even pregnant women. We were comprised of people from all walks of life, which showed how well received Falun Dafa was among the population. There were still people coming to join us. We made lines from the front door all the way to the back door! At the same time, we followed all the traffic laws, in good order. Police were busy maintaining order on the street. A large amount of police also arrived, and blocked off traffic in the Fruit Lake area. There were many other practitioners blocked outside, and whoever was already inside was not allowed to leave. Those blocked outside were clarifying the truth to people passing by. Some police cursed at us, but many people listened to the truth-clarification curiously. No one had ever seen such a civilized demonstration.

The sky was getting dark. More and more police came and the atmosphere was getting tense. There were rows of police who wore metal helmets, and carried electric batons. They were running along the street. None of the practitioners were disturbed. There were several people videotaping us while standing on top of the building opposite us. Later there were people hiding in a slow-moving van videotaping us. Practitioners stood straight, facing them calmly. Then, a vehicle with a loudspeaker came, and an amplified voice said non-stop that we should go home since it was flood season. We saw through their plan, and no one moved. We only requested that provincial level officials show their faces, and listen to our reasons for demonstrating. We wanted to report the facts, which is our guaranteed right as citizens. Listening to us is their duty. We believed this demonstration could be ended quickly and peacefully just like the April 25^th demonstration in front of Zhongnanhai in Beijing. There was no need to use force. Later, they intentionally deceived people by making them think that we were attacking the provincial government when we were really demonstrating peacefully. After around one minute of the loud voice coming from the van, the loudspeaker malfunctioned! A parking bus bumped into the police vehicle because its parking brake failed. There was shattered glass everywhere. One young practitioner saw Master's fashen walking in front of us back and forth. Since we were not moving, the armed police came out from the government building's front door, and surrounded us! We never thought our own government would treat unarmed people like this! Some plainclothes policemen got scared and revealed themselves, "We are special agents, please let us leave first!" Several army officials separated us by group and then held up their hands and shouted, "Don't let a single one go!" We started clarifying the truth to these army men, but they all lowered their heads, and avoided making eye contact. I could see their good side, and felt they were so pitiful! Traffic police were blocking all the buses on the road, having their passengers get off, and forcing the drivers to park their buses in front of us.

Around 7 p.m., the streetlights were all lit up. Buses filled with Falun Dafa practitioners took off. All of us started to loudly recite "Lunyu." We displayed our determination in safeguarding Dafa in front of the evil, and shook the evil! I saw clearly how those armed police officers were looking at us with tears in their eyes. We were pushed onto the buses. Police on the bus were polite to us. They were listening to our clarifying the truth, and asked questions. They were not totally poisoned by Jiang and his regime's lies. They drove us to the suburbs, then released us.

The next day, July 22, practitioners from all places in Hubei Province continued coming over the night. They were treated to a hotel near the government building as soon as they arrived, but soon after they were abducted.

We learned that Jiang and his regime ordered the whole country to refuse Falun Dafa practitioners' appeals. We then started our journey to Beijing for further appealing...
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/12/5/61845.html

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