(Clearwisdom.net) Hillegom, Saturday. Some of the melodies the band in blue and white plays seemed familiar to the spectators. The flower parade of the Bollenstreek, sixtieth edition comes from Noordwijk and goes from Hillegom to Haarlem. The familiar tune is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
On the flyers that the 150 musicians and dancers of the European Divine Land Marching Band distributed is an Internet link, which reveals the repertoire of the band: "Falun Dafa is good." Falun Dafa is not only the name of the marching band, it's also another word for Falun Gong, the spiritual movement which is forbidden in China and is being handled very harshly.
One mouse click further and we know how harshly. A color photo shows a dead, apparent Falun Gong adherent who according to the label has been killed for his organs (organ harvesting). Realistic drawings show the torture techniques that China uses against Falun Gong adherents. The images stand in stark contrast with the Flower parade theme "Celebration."
Peter Houben, chairman of the Falun Gong Association Netherlands, says that on Saturday during the parade about 20,000 flyers had been distributed. Houben says the band consists completely of Falun Gong practitioners, with some of them having undergone torture themselves. "One of the websites mentioned in the flyer, shows details about torture, yes. But that's just how horrible it really is."
Houben also said that from about fifty Dutch Falun Gong practitioners, fifteen play in the band. The band has been around for just a short period, since the end of last year. The purpose is not just making music, but "bringing the persecution of Falun Gong in China to the attention," says Houben. "We want the Dutch people to become aware of this."
The same morning Falun Dafa gave a performance in The Hague, in protest against the communist regime in China. According to Houben the Chinese government always tries to block Falun Gong activities, "but they didn't know about the participation in the Flower parade. So they couldn't do anything to stop our participation."
The organizers of the Flower parade could not be reached for comment.
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