Canada: Ottawa and Montreal Falun Gong Practitioners Hold Parade to Celebrate the 12th Anniversary of Falun Dafa's Public Introduction (Photos)
(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom correspondent Dong Na reports in Ottawa:
Falun Gong practitioners from Montreal and Ottawa began celebrating the 12th
anniversary of Falun Dafa's introduction to the public on May 8, 2004, featuring
a grand parade, dancing performance, photo exhibit, public speeches, and
exercises.
Heaven and Earth Celebrate Together On May 8, 2004, a Falun Gong contingent composed of Western and
Chinese practitioners and young practitioners marched through main
streets in downtown Ottawa and Chinatown to the music of "Pu Du"
and "Ji Shi." Wherever they went, passersby stopped and
watched them. Residents and tourists accepted Falun Gong truth
clarification brochures and VCDs from the practitioners. Ottawa's forecast of overcast and a rainy day turned out to be a
clear and fine day with warm sunshine. At 1:00 p.m., the parade reached
Parliament Hill where Montreal practitioners performed their personally
composed dance "Tang Music" that was based in Chinese
traditional culture. The dancers' beautiful and elegant costumes,
graceful and gentle dancing accompanied by melodious music brought the
audience wonderful feelings and won rounds of applause. The "Fan
Dance" delighted the audience with its lively rhythm and beautiful
arrangement. Young practitioners' singing displayed their pure and kind
nature. Lastly, practitioners demonstrated the exercises. "Falun Dafa brings true wonderfulness to people" Since 1992 when Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa for the first
time to the public in China, Falun Dafa widely spread to more than 60
countries. Over 100 million people of different nationalities are
practicing it. Zhuan Falun has been translated into more than 20
languages and spread widely among people. During the last 12 years,
wherever Falun Dafa was introduced, people valued virtues and their
moral standard upgraded. Falun Gong practitioner Li Zhili said to reporters, "I've
practiced Falun Gong for nearly eight years; I have been healthy and my
moral standard has been upgraded. During my cultivation, I've strived
hard to conduct myself according to 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,'
and experienced happiness of life. Falun Dafa brings a true
wonderfulness to each living being. But with Jiang's group's nearly
five-year persecution and lots of deceptive lies, many people have
missed such a good opportunity. Today, through this event, we can allow
more people to know Falun Dafa. This is one of my wishes. " Falun Gong practitioner Li Dan said, "Before practicing Falun
Gong, I had illnesses and a bad temper. I often quarreled with my
husband. After practicing cultivation according to Falun Dafa's
principle 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,' I became healthy both
physically and mentally. Seeing my tremendous changes, my husband
changed from disbelieving in Falun Gong to believing it and supporting
me. My 14-year-old son also joined me in cultivation." Peacefully and rationally opposing the persecution A 17-year-old high school student, who just came to Canada recently
from Beijing, said to the reporters, "Before the beginning of the
persecution, walking in a park, everyone could see Falun Gong
practitioners doing the exercises. When the Chinese authorities
persecuted Falun Gong, the atmosphere was extremely terrifying with
assistance of lies and propaganda. If you were at school or in class,
and you wanted to tell them the truth, you would risk being expelled
from school. I can understand Falun Gong practitioners going to
Tiananmen Square to clarify the truth. Though I'm not a practitioner, I
hope I can be as kind as them." Not long ago, Ms. Lucy Zhou who won the Humanitarianism Ottawa
Citizen Award expressed in an interview that though going through five
years' tribulations, Falun Gong practitioners have endured unnamed
hardships, with their great compassion and tolerance endowed by
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." In their perseverance
of their peaceful journey of opposing the persecution worldwide, they
have brought the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa to people, enabling many
people to learn about the truth. The persecution of Falun Gong will
ultimately come to an end, and the first light of morning is just in
front." Ms. Lucy Zhou was issued the award for her spirit of unselfishness in
rescuing innocent Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted in China
during the past few years and her persistence in introducing the values
of Falun Gong and its exercises to communities, high schools and
universities, the media and so on. It was also because she took legal
action to stop the one-sided and continuous instigation of hatred from
some media and punish those who committed torture and crimes against
humanity. At dusk, the parade group reached the Chinese Embassy to commemorate
Falun Gong practitioners who sacrificed their lives for their
persistence in their belief. According to Clearwisdom statistics, in the
past few months of this year forty-seven Falun Gong practitioners were
verified to have died as a result of the persecution, so that the total
confirmed number of practitioners who have died from the persecution
reached 955. According to Falun Gong practitioners Dai Gongyu, Canadian Falun Gong
practitioners are seeking legal means to punish the head criminal of
persecuting Falun Gong. As it estimated, from October 2002 to date,
Jiang Zemin and his "610 Office" that was set up especially
for persecuting Falun Gong, have had lawsuits filed against them in
several countries including Chicago in the US, Spain, Taiwan, Germany,
Korea, and Belgium.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/5/10/74268.html
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