Massachusetts, U.S.A.: Anti-torture Exhibition at Harvard Square (Photos)

By Yue Ran, Clearwisdom correspondent in Cambridge, Massachusetts

(Clearwisdom.net) Between April and May every year, the "Harvard China Review" at Harvard University holds an annual large-scale conference taking some aspect of China as the theme. Each conference attracts many prominent Chinese people in the Northeast U.S. and Westerners who hope to expand business markets in China. Due to the Chinese Consulate's direct support and the poisoning of the Chinese Communist regime's slander and propaganda, the "Harvard China Review" presents a biased and one-sided viewpoint of the situation in China. They emphasize the expanding Chinese economy and the attractions of the Chinese market, creating an illusion that Communist China's economy had boundless prospects. The result is that many Chinese and Western people attending the seminar become filled with an idealized picture of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) prospects, and develop a repulsion and misunderstanding of people who raise questions concerning the CCP's human rights situation and freedom of belief. They believe that such people only view China negatively.

In order to help people attending the "Harvard China Review" and professors and students at Harvard University understand the CCP's true nature and its brutal persecution of Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners in Boston began a series of activities to clarify the truth at Harvard University.

The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party Is a Good Antidote to the CCP's Poison

In view of the fact that many Chinese and Western people are eager for quick financial success and expect to make a big fortune from the Chinese market, and will thus ignore the truth of the current regime in China, practitioners took disseminating the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party as a way to break through to them. The Nine Commentaries helps people clearly see the evil nature of the CCP so they will no longer be deceived and deluded by the lie that "the situation of the Chinese economy is great." On April 30, 2005, Falun Gong practitioners unfolded several banners at the entrance to the parking lot where the "Harvard China Review" was held. The banners, in both Chinese and English, had messages such as "See why over 1 million have resigned from the Communist Party; Read the Nine Commentaries by the Epoch Times,", and "Withdrawal from the Communist Party is an Awakening of Conscience," "Love China, withdraw from the CCP," and "The Chinese Communist party isn't china."

Many people who traveled by car to attend the conference saw the banners. According to Mr. Wang, who was holding a banner at the time, many people in cars looked amazed at seeing the banners. Practitioners also handed out the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to people in their cars waiting for traffic lights at intersections. Most people who attended the conference saw the banners and accepted the Nine Commentaries.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that when practitioners applied for a permit to display the banners, the police, who knew the truth of Falun Dafa and the CCP, expressed their support. They also waived the practitioners' application fee.

The Anti-torture Exhibition at Harvard Square Becomes a Major Focal Point

Harvard Square is located near the campus of Harvard University and Harvard Subway Station, and is a crowded and lively place. The Falun Gong practitioners' anti-torture exhibition has been held here previously on several weekends. Though it was raining, people at Harvard Square were still attracted to and moved by the exhibition. They stopped their hurried steps in the rain. The organizer of the anti-torture exhibit, Ms. Mary Baromu said, "Right when we set up the anti-torture exhibit, it seemed that time stopped on Harvard Square. People who were in a hurry and absorbed in their own private world seemed to be awakened in an instant. They crowded around us, wanting to get a good look at the exhibition. Our anti-torture exhibit became a real focal point."

Another organizer, Ms. Zhou Xiaoyu, said, "Justice stands on the side of Falun Gong practitioners. Several anti-torture exhibitions have been held here, even though the weather forecast called for rainstorms. What we are doing is exposing the true nature of the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong, and no rainstorm could stop us from helping to awaken more people. Each time we have come to Harvard Square, we found that it was not raining that hard - it was only drizzling. What is interesting is that practitioners from other places all said, 'The rain poured down near my home and on the way here, but once I arrived at Harvard Square, the rain was much lighter.'"

During several anti-torture exhibitions, practitioners constantly heard students and Harvard University professors saying, "I've seen the Falun Gong anti-torture exhibition already once or twice; it's very moving."

Many beautiful exchanges between practitioners and the public took place during the anti-torture exhibitions. The following are several examples:

"You Are Beautiful"

A scholarly-looking older man sat at a cafe opposite the anti-torture exhibition. He smiled and told the practitioners, "I hope the weather becomes fine soon [it was raining]. In such weather, only Falun Gong could persist. I know you have been doing so over the past few years. Falun Gong is magnificent! You are beautiful!"

"I'll Tell My Younger Brother"

An older man stood in front of an orange-colored Dafa banner for quite some time while a practitioner told him about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and explained to him the words on the banner. The man said, "Don't listen to what your [non-practitioner] Chinese compatriots say, they have also been deceived by lies... My younger brother went to work at a company in China, and he just came back recently. He had no idea about the persecution happening in China. I'll show him this [truth clarification] newspaper and I'll tell my younger brother about the words on the banner."

"You're the Most Beautiful Lives in this Universe"

A slim and tall middle-aged American woman walked close to the anti-torture exhibition. Her first sentence was, "I feel very sad and uncomfortable seeing the anti-torture exhibition." She then explained, "I've learned about the persecution, and every time I saw you displaying the truth, it was very sad and painful to me. So many good people are suffering such brutal persecution in China. It has been over five years. Every night whenever I thought of this, it was too painful..." Then, she held a practitioner's frozen hands, rubbing them and gently kissing them, with tears in her eyes, she asked, "Tell me how I can help you stop the persecution, how?" The practitioner said she could contact the media, senators, and governmental departments through phone calls or by writing letters, and also help more of her friends and relatives know about the truth. The woman said, "I've done so. Of course, I'll do more, but it is still not enough, not enough. I'll think of a way, I'll pray for you more every day... I must stop the persecution... You're the most beautiful lives in this universe..." After saying all this, the woman came to the practitioner who reenacted one of the torture methods, pressed her hands in front of her chest and bowed deeply, tears streaming down her face. After that, she went to join practitioners who were doing the exercises, following along with the practitioners for a while and then left quietly.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/24/102500.html

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