Chicago: Practitioners Gather on July 20th to Mourn Fellow Practitioners (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Minghui correspondent Xu Jingzhi from Chicago reports: "Zheng Yansheng, Li Maofen, Wang Shuzhen ..." 2711 names of known Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of persecution in China were read out one by one in front of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago on the evening of July 19, 2005. Falun Gong practitioners from the Chicago area gathered once again in front of the Chinese Consulate and held a candlelight vigil to mourn Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 20, 1999. They also strongly protest the CCP's six-year atrocity of persecuting Falun Gong.

Group practice and send forth righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Consulate

Read list of names of Falun Gong practitioners who have been tortured to death

Candlelights mourn fellow practitioners

Candlelight shone upon each Falun Gong practitioner's solemn and reassuring face, mourning practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution. Six years of persecution has not made this group of people who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" withdraw. On the contrary, over the past six years, through practitioners' tenacious efforts of clarifying the truth and resisting the persecution, more and more people, including confidential employees of the malevolent CCP, have stepped forward courageously to support Falun Gong and worked together with practitioners to condemn the CCP's atrocities.

A man passed by and learned the facts about Falun Gong from practitioners, and he could hardly imagine that there are still such cruel things happening in modern society. He asked if giving the party money could solve the problem. Practitioners relied, "It is not a matter of money, it is a matter of faith. The CCP does not allow people to have their own belief, which resulted in the persecution that has lasted for six years." Later the man asked again: Is it useful to sit here? Why don't you get into (the consulate)?" Practitioners explained to him the reason why we have been persistently clarifying the facts in front of the Chinese Consulate, and the fact that we have tried several times to enter the consulate to deliver a petition, but have been rejected. When he learned about all this, he said, "Then I'll enter to ask them." He directly walked to the gate of the consulate and knocked at it. Nobody inside the consulate dared to answer him. This passerby said seriously, "Can you give me their telephone number and the name of their consul. I'll call them and let them give me a reason!"

The coordinator of the activity Mr. Xu said, "In July 2004, it took us about 45 minutes to finish reading the list of names of Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate. This year, it takes us one and a half hours to finish reading them. In the past year, names of Falun Gong practitioners who had died several years ago were constantly revealed, at the same time, the CCP has never stopped its persecution of Falun Gong, and the persecution has become even more covert and brutal. The information has been blocked even tightly. Even so, the list of names we read today is far less than the real number of practitioners who have died from the persecution. There was a touching story behind each name. Torture, abuses and even murder, the number of people and families that the CCP's persecution has implicated is actually unimaginably numerous."

In the past six years, Chicago practitioners have held various kinds of gatherings in front of the Chinese Consulate disregard the weather, rain or shine. People here have learned about the persecution. During our activity, many people who drove by either honked the horns to express their support or waved to greet us. A middle-aged westerner even stopped his car and walked to practitioners and raised his two thumbs up to express his respect and support. Practitioners felt grateful to these people and government of Chicago for their support of Falun Gong in the past years. From an encouraging smile from a passerby, to the pass of a city-level resolution to condemn the CCP persecution of Falun Gong, and bringing to justice perpetrators who beat Falun Gong practitioners in front of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. All this has reflected that people have been awakening after having learned about the truth. When more and more people stand up to condemn the persecution, it will be close to the time when the truth reveals itself. We believe it will also be the time when the perpetrators who have launched and directly participated in the persecution will be held accountable.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/21/106655.html

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