(Minghui.org) For the first time, an Indian lawmaker has raised the issue of China’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims on the parliament floor, describing the communist regime’s human rights situation as “very grave.”
Aneel Prasad Hegde, a member of the Indian Parliament’s upper house—the Rajya Sabha—brought up the human rights atrocities during the December 5 Winter Session of the Parliament in New Delhi. He urged the government to start a campaign to help stop the ongoing brutality.
Mr. Hegde speaking on the persecution perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
The floor of the Rajya Sabha (Wikimedia)
Mr. Hegde is a member of the Janata Dal [United] Party and was elected to the upper house of the Indian Parliament in May 2022, representing the state of Bihar. “Millions of people, including the Falun Dafa practitioners [and] Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang are subjected to forced labor in Chinese prisons,” Mr. Hegde said, while delivering his speech on the short-duration discussion of the economic situation of India.
“Because of the violations of human rights, labor laws, and environmental laws, our neighbor is able to manufacture cheap goods, which makes us less competitive. Illegal organ trade of innocent prisoners like Falun Gong (also called Dafa) [and] Uyghur Muslims [is] a flourishing business there.”
He later talked to a Minghui.org correspondent, and shared his views on the human rights crisis in China. He also mentioned as to how it is impacting the world and the Indian economy. He said that he has been advocating for human rights throughout his career. Most importantly, he brought the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) abuses to the attention of his fellow lawmakers.
“As a person concerned about human rights violations, I would have failed in my duty, if I had not talked about [China’s forced] organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, and Uyghur Muslims, which is a flourishing trade in China,” Mr. Hegde said.
“An overwhelming majority of our lawmakers [and] members of the parliament themselves do not know the points I put across. Ever since I spoke, a lot of people have asked me [about] Falun Dafa and the Uyghurs.”
He said that Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims imprisoned in Chinese jails are forced to do intensive labor work that has enabled China “to produce cheap goods,” and because of this, India’s manufacturing sector is suffering.
Mr. Hegde first learned about Falun Dafa in the early 2000s, when the practice had just been introduced in India by some overseas practitioners. He says he is still in touch with some of those practitioners he met years ago.
Indian Falun Dafa practitioners in Nagpur doing the exercises of the practice.
Students from the Andarman and Nicobar Islands learn the exercises.
Recently, Indian Falun Gong practitioners have been trying to raise the issue of the ongoing persecution in China with the nation’s lawmakers, and they have met with Mr. Hegde quite a few times.
One of the practitioners who has been in touch with Mr. Hegde for quite a while met him personally in September 2023 in New Delhi. They talked in detail about the persecution and organ harvesting. The lawmaker told the practitioner that if they didn’t take any action soon, they would be sitting and talking about this even after 20 more years.
Affirming the support of the conscientious people across the globe, Mr. Hegde said that the lawmakers and people from throughout the world must come together to put a stop to these injustices and crimes perpetrated in China for more than two decades.
“I congratulate all those people from throughout the world who are supporting the cause of Falun Gong and the Uyghurs. I support those people in various parliaments and all people wherever they have spoken [in support of Falun Dafa]. I congratulate all those people. Keep it up and consistently fight for the restoration of human rights in China and all over the world,” he said.
“Whatever is happening inside China, the human rights abuses is very, very grave, and the world would not have heard about this at all [if people hadn’t shown support]. So, I appeal to them once again, to all people, parliamentarians, and lawmakers all over the world that they should continue to keep raising these issues.”
Mr. Hedge is hopeful that in the near future our world would be free of such crimes against humanity.
“I’m optimistic, that a day will soon come when these human rights violations will stop, and such a society will soon be established where all people can live happily,” he said.
Copyright © 2023 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
