Toronto, Canada: Practitioners Commemorate Eight-Year Protest of the Persecution (Photos)

By Ye Linghui

(Clearwisdom.net) On July 14, 2007, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Toronto's Chinatown to commemorate eight years of protesting of the persecution in China. They indicated that they would continue to clarify the truth and peacefully protest the persecution until the end of the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners march in Chinatown to protest the persecution

Anti-torture demonstration

Graceful and peaceful Falun Gong meditation

Mr. Zhang Jinzhao from the Falun Dafa Association of Canada reviews the eight-year protest of the persecution

In the rally, practitioners shared their experiences of witnessing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s persecution of Falun Gong. With poems and songs, some expressed their steadfast belief in Falun Gong and commemorated the fellow practitioners who were tortured to death in China. It was rainy and cloudy in Toronto, adding graveness to the commemoration activity.

Mr. Zhang Jinzhao from the Falun Dafa Association of Canada described the eight-year-long persecution. The CCP and Jiang Zemin's faction have used the whole state machine to persecute and torture practitioners following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. The torture means they have used include unlawful detention, brainwashing, beating, water dungeons, shocking with electric batons, force-feeding, force-feeding salty water and human feces, deprivation of sleep, sexual abuse and rape, forceful injection of drugs that damage the central nervous system, and organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit.

"Falun Gong practitioners have not compromised. We spread the facts about Falun Gong and protest the persecution with peace, wisdom and tolerance," Mr. Zhang said. "Based on our righteous belief in the universal truth, we face violence with kindness, face terror with courage, and walk through the eight-year-long cruelest and most-covered-up persecution. We will continue clarifying the truth with great compassion until the end of the persecution."

Clement Rodrigo, leader of the Toronto Asian Community, and Pamela Lalla, from the district office of the deputy Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, gave speeches expressing their support of Falun Gong and condemning the CCP's persecution of the practice.

Falun Gong Practitioners Provide Testimony on Persecution

Practitioner Mr. Gui, who once studied in Shanghai for his Masters and PhD degrees, shared his experience of appealing and clarifying the truth about Falun Gong with other practitioners on July 21, 1999 on Shanghai Square.

Mr. Gui said that local police, armed police, government officials of each level, related department of universities, and many hired thugs participated in arresting and beating Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Lan shared that she was on health leave for two years in China when she was an undergraduate student. After beginning to practice Falun Gong, she recovered quickly. On January 1, 2001, Ms. Lan decided to go to Beijing to appeal to the Chinese government. Ms. Lan said, "Before leaving, I wrote a letter to my family. I said in the letter, 'I benefit from practicing Falun Gong physically and mentally. Now Dafa is being slandered. Our revered Master is being cursed. Countless fellow practitioners are being arrested and beaten. Some are being tortured to death. As a Dafa practitioner, I am obligated to restore the innocence of Dafa.'"

Ms. Lan shared her experience of imprisonment, "Once, the director of the detention center called me to his office. Many security guards interrogated me. On the wall, I saw a list of rules for security guards, including not beating or abusing detainees, but those guards beat me in front of the rules."

People Learn the Facts

During the rally, many Chinese people gathered on site and stood for a long. They watched and listened to the practitioners' performances, songs, readings, and speeches. Those who passed by quickly also accepted truth-clarification literature.

A lady from Northeast China said that she quit the CCP's Young Pioneers at the Quit the CCP Service Center in Chinatown in Toronto. She said that many people in Northeast China practice Falun Gong. Many of her friends practice Falun Gong. She watched the rally from beginning to end and did not leave even when it rained.

A gentleman from Fujian said that he had poor health before and was not qualified to join the CCP's Young Pioneers or Youth League. He took a lot of truth-clarification literature. He watched the performance in full and walked for some distance along with the practitioners as they marched in the rain.

A few young Chinese students asked for the address of the location of the nine-day Falun Dafa lecture series to be held at the end of July and said they would attend. They also quit the CCP's Young Pioneers and Youth League on site.

After learning the facts, many people immediately renounced the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Ms. Mao and Ms. Zhang of the Quit the CCP Service Center processes withdrawals from the CCP for eleven Chinese people during the one-hour rally.

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