(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa is an ancient meditation practice of mind and body that is practised in up to fifty countries worldwide but is banned in its country of origin, China. The Falun Dafa books have been published in over 30 different languages but in China the books are contraband. To date, over one thousand practitioners have been confirmed tortured to death.

On Saturday July the 17th in Dublin, a group of Falun Dafa practitioners held an Anti-Torture exhibition demonstrating the methods used in Chinese labor camps, prisons and detention centres to force practitioners to give up their belief. The exhibition was staged in two parts; firstly the slow graceful meditation exercises were demonstrated. A bright yellow banner was displayed behind the practitioners asking for support to end the persecution and in intermittent Chinese and English the host introduced the practice and its spread around the world.

After thirty minutes people dressed like Chinese police rushed on to the scene and dispersed the practitioners. The background banner turned to a more solemn black and white reading "Falun Dafa Practitioners Brutally Tortured in China". Large, gruesome torture devices were dragged onto the scene. The exhibition illustrated four of the torture methods being used in China today: the Tiger Bench, the small cage, bamboo stick torture and pressing with a hot iron. Again the hosts in intermittent Chinese and English described the start of the persecution and the extremes that the Chinese Government, under the direction of Jiang Zemin, has gone to in order to eradicate this group of people.

Also exhibited were pictures of ten practitioners whose lives were taken away because they refused to betray their belief while in detention in China. The photos were surrounded by flowers and their subjects ranged from teenagers to people in their seventies. Their careers ranged from University lecturers to factory workers. The host informed the crowd of their stories and how they died.

The exhibition took place on Dublin's busiest thoroughfare. Crowds of people watched the display in disbelief at the horror of what is happening in China today.

When asked why Falun Dafa is banned in China, spokesman for the Irish Falun Dafa Information Centre Zhao Ming said, "It is because of Jiang Zemin's jealousy. China is a dictatorship and when Jiang Zemin was in power he felt threatened by Falun Gong's popularity. At the time the practice was banned one in twelve people in China practiced Falun Dafa and these people permeated all of society. They are good, honest hard working people but because Jiang thought his self interests were threatened he violated Chinese law and international law and banned the practice. Although no longer president Jiang still holds the reigns of power in China in his position as head of the army."

When asked what Irish people could do to help, Mr Zhao said, "Falun Dafa practitioners treat others with compassion and tolerance. When met with violence we do not retaliate. Instead we use our pens and our voices to condemn these atrocities and ask for justice. We would like more Irish people to write to or ring their local TD, MEP or councilor and ask these people to condemn the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. When the international voice of concern grows louder the pressure will be on China to change."

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200407/20878.html

Posting date: 7/21/2004
Original article date: 7/21/2004
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version