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Bearing Witness to History: Taking the Train to Beijing to Appeal By a Falun Dafa Practitioner from China December 18, 2003 (Clearwisdom.net) On July 19, 1999, I saw several Falun Dafa practitioners
whose faces were familiar to me on the express train #393 from Jiamusi to
Beijing, but I didn't know their names. The train started, people were chatting,
and it appeared that this train was no different from any other train. Not long after the train started, I heard a practitioner next to me say that
a boy who was reading Zhuan Falun had been taken off the train. The boy
and his mother were quickly removed at station stop. After arriving at Harbin Train Station, the train stayed for a long while
after the passengers who had reached their destination got off. The passengers
remaining on the train became irritated. Suddenly, several groups of police ran
to the train. My compartment was instantly swamped with policemen, who blocked
both exits. Several people jumped over a seat to speak with another passenger.
One officer came to my seat before I even knew what was going on. The police
ordered a couple sitting near the window to collect their luggage and get off
the train. I assumed the police must be after some criminals. However, the male
passenger calmly prepared his luggage and said to me: "Don't be scared. It
doesn't matter." and left the train. On the way, we hadn't spoken a word to each
other. His calm in such an intense situation seemed to say he hadn't done
anything against the law or his conscience. Startled by this unforeseen event, I
was pondering what was going on, when a practitioner I knew came and briefly
told me that the police were arresting people in every compartment and they
appeared to arrest only Falun Gong practitioners, including a fellow female
practitioner in our compartment, who was removed from the train. "What!" I was
very surprised. I turned around; the practitioner was indeed no longer on the
train. It had happened so fast I didn't even notice. When I looked through the
window, many faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, passed by outside. They looked
calm, peaceful, and fearless. Before I could focus on the face of one
practitioner, another would pass by. Many practitioners passed the window side
by side. Time seemed to stand still, and I was left with an impression of
overlapped bodies of practitioners. I did not know where they would be taken. I don't know how many practitioners were on that train nor how many were
taken off. Only two people remained in the two six-person benches facing each
other in our compartment. We sat quietly looking at each other, and all sorts of
feelings welled up in my heart. I had asked for the ticket to Beijing from the
practitioner who was taken off the train last. I was determined to reach in
Beijing and express the will of Falun Dafa practitioners no matter what
happened. To prevent practitioners from appealing and to have plenty of time to arrest
practitioners, the policemen held the Beijing-bound train for over two hours. Finally, the train arrived at Beijing Train Station. Passengers were
separated for interrogation and interception of Falun Gong practitioners. I got
off the train and waited for a while to see how many people I could meet. I saw
a woman who was seven or eight months pregnant, a thin middle aged woman with
two children (the mother of one of the two children had been taken away), and
several young people in their twenties. The atmosphere around the train station
was intense. We quickly left, setting off to appeal for fair treatment toward
Falun Dafa. Posting date: 1/5/2004
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