April 25, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) Three years ago, on April 25th, based on their trust in the government, about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to the State Appeals Office located near the Zhongnanhai (Central Government Compound) to appeal for Falun Gong. Soon after, the Jiang regime started the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. I recalled one thing that happened several months ago when I clarified the truth in Chinatown. Please read what an everyday person said after they witnessed the "April 25th Appeal" in China.
One Saturday noon, we were distributing Dafa truth-clarification materials in Chinatown when an over 60-year-old woman stopped by. She stood before our photo display for quite a while and then she took some of the materials. She then said to me, "I was there when the April 25th appeal happened." I realized that I did not have many chances to run into everday people who witnessed the appeal, so I asked her to please tell me her story. She happily continued, "At that time I was receiving medical treatment in a hospital. Looking outside of the window, I saw many people lining up along the road. Those in the front row stood while those in the back row sat. No one in my ward knew what was happening. So I went downstairs to a grocery store and asked the storeowner how his business was on that day. He said, 'The business today is really good. Those people are very civilized. They picked up the garbage on the ground. See, how clean the ground is. I have never seen people act in such a good manner.' I looked around and noticed that there were many elderly women. They exercised self-restraint, and they were not like average people. I have never seen such people." She repeated a couple of times, "They behaved in a very good manner. They were really well-mannered." Before I had a chance to speak, she kept saying, "When I was in that hospital, all the doctors and nurses in that ward practiced Falun Gong. They were all very civilized people and they even gave a copy of Zhuan Falun to me. So now when I meet people who do not want to read Falun Gong materials, I will tell them, 'Take a look, please. Falun Gong practitioners are all very civilized people. You should not just listen to what the Chinese government says. Look at the other side of the story and then make your own judgment.'"
I felt very happy for this lady. She herself won't be deceived by the lies, and she also asked people around her to come learn the truth. Later, this lady took a truth-clarification CD, brochures and newspapers. She said she would read those carefully. In the end, she left with much reluctance.(meaning she didn't want to leave, but perhaps she had something to do so she had to leave.)
I was deeply touched by her words. In a totalitarian country, where all the media are controlled by the government and false propaganda is everywhere, once people learn the truth, they will make their own judgment and won't be deceived anymore.