(Clearwisdom.net) On April 24, 2011, practitioners in Calgary, Canada held a rally and exercise demonstration in Chinatown to commemorate the twelfth anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal near Zhongnanhai in Beijing. Practitioners held banners reading “Falun Dafa is Good,” “The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and other messages in remembrance of that special day twelve years ago.
Practitioners in Calgary, Canada do the exercises in Chinatown to commemorate the twelfth anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal
Calgary Falun Dafa Association spokesperson Mr. Yang Jefu said that the April 25 appeal was the choice of kind people. Falun Gong practitioners uphold mankind's dignity, and serve as a model for peacefully and rationally facing the evil and violence. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes good people, which has accelerated the decay of morality, and brought disaster to Chinese society.
Mr. Winston Liu participated in the April 25 peaceful appeal in China twelve years ago. He is proud of being a witness of that great historic moment. He said, “Twelve years ago this moment, we quietly stood there, waiting for the Central government officials to give us a reply. Our appeals were to have an unrestrained environment for practice and to legally publish Falun Gong books. Together with other practitioners, we acted according to our belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” Mr. Liu added that the CCP had long plotted to crack down on Falun Gong. However, as the CCP persecutes Falun Gong, it hastens its own demise.
Ms. Sun said that twelve years ago, many Chinese people who didn't practice Falun Gong believed the CCP's lies, and mistook the April 25 peaceful appeal as “besieging Zhongnanhai,” as the CCP labeled it. They thought that the appeal led to the July 20 suppression. Today, even those who haven't practiced Falun Gong have come to understand that people should have the right to speak out when being treated unfairly. The victims' silence is actually conniving with the perpetrators and preventing justice from being upheld. Amidst the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, every Chinese person becomes a victim. Falun Gong practitioners defend their freedom to do the exercises and be better people, and safeguard the rights of every Chinese person.
Background:
On April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in China gathered outside the State Council Appeals Office to demand their basic rights of belief and the immediate release of 45 fellow practitioners who had been unlawfully arrested. Though as a result of the appeal the Chinese Communist regime promised to protect the practitioners' rights and released the arrested practitioners. Three months later, the regime started a nationwide persecution to "eliminate Falun Gong." The brutal persecution has continued for 12 years.
