(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held an information event and candlelight vigil in Nagpur, a city in central India, on July 20, 2023, to mark the 24th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) brutal persecution. 

The practitioners gathered at Sanvidhan Square to demonstrate the five sets of Falun Dafa exercises and distribute flyers. In the evening, they held a candlelight vigil to commemorate practitioners tortured to death by the CCP.

To date, there have been 5,000 known cases of practitioners persecuted to death in China—though the actual total of deaths is feared to be much higher due to the CCP’s efforts to conceal its violent crimes against practitioners. 

Practitioners placed framed prints of paintings throughout Sanvidhan Square that depicted practitioners’ perseverance despite the persecution and the benefits of practicing Falun Dafa. Many visitors stopped to look at these paintings and learn more about the situation. Many visitors expressed their support for practitioners and their astonishment that these crimes against humanity were allowed to continue unchecked in China. 

Doing the Falun Dafa exercises

Practitioners hold a candlelight vigil on July 20, 2023, to commemorate the practitioners tortured to death by the CCP. 

“People Around the World Should Come Together to Stop This Crime, This Injustice”

Vilas Parate is a cameraman for a YouTube channel that was covering the event. He expressed indignation that the CCP would persecute such a large group of innocent Chinese who were just trying to become better people. 

“It is very shocking to hear about the persecution, and through my channel I will make people aware about this human rights crime,” he said. “It’s so wrong to persecute such a peaceful and beneficial practice!”

A cameraman for a YouTube channel interviews a practitioner. 

Gautam Rangari lives in the eastern side of Nagpur, and is the assistant librarian at Bhavan’s Bhagwandas High School in the city. He had heard of Falun Dafa before and was interested in learning the exercises, but he didn’t know much about July 20 and was curious to learn more. 

A practitioner explained that the CCP officially launched the persecution on Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, following the directive of the then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin, who was jealous of the popularity of the practice. An estimated 100 million people had been practicing Falun Dafa in China in the 1990s, outnumbering the members of the CCP. 

Gautam Rangari talks about what he thinks of the persecution.

When Rangari learned more about the persecution in China, he was shocked to hear that people could be killed for simply doing meditative exercises and following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. “This sounds exactly like what Hitler did to the Jews in Germany. Where has humanity gone?” Rangari asked. “People around the world should come together to stop this crime, this injustice.”

Media and Social Media Impact

Several media outlets came to report on the practitioners’ event, and some practitioners were asked to give their comments on camera. 

Practitioners being interviewed by local news channels

In the days following the event, a number of leading newspapers and news portals published reports about the practitioners’ event and the persecution in China.

Coverage by SAKAL, a leading newspaper in Maharashtra

Newspaper clip of a report by Dainik Bahujan Saurabh. “Humanity should remember the horrors of July 20 so that it does not ever happen again,” wrote Sandhya Rajurkar, a resident editor of the paper. 

A total of 61 online portals, print media, and TV channels published articles in English and various Indian languages about the event. A blog about the event and the persecution on a reputed English-language website got more than 7,000 views. 

In conjunction with the event, practitioners created a video of the 24-year-long persecution and how Falun Dafa practitioners in India observe this day as a “Protest Day” to raise awareness about the persecution. They also created a song in multiple Indian languages about July 20 and the persecution. Both videos were uploaded to YouTube and other social media platforms. 

In the comments section, many viewers condemned the persecution and wanted to know how they could help. Some asked for more information about the persecution and how they could learn the Falun Dafa exercises.

Candlelight Vigil Calling to Stop the Persecution

Falun Dafa practitioners gathered at the Nexus Koramangala Shopping Center in Bangalore on July 23, 2023, to hold a candlelight vigil to commemorate the practitioners who were persecuted to death by the CCP. They called on the international community to help stop the CCP’s 24-year-long persecution. 

Practitioners event at the Nexus Koramangala Shopping Center on July 23, 2023

Candlelight vigil to commemorate the practitioners who were persecuted to death by the CCP on July 23

People learn about Falun Dafa.