(Minghui.org) Four Bangalorean Falun Dafa practitioners gave a talk to graduate students at St. Joseph’s University on April 25, 2023. The talk revolved around the April 25 Appeal held by Chinese practitioners in 1999 and informed the students about Falun Dafa and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes practitioners in China.

A classroom full of graduate students at St. Joseph’s University listens to the practitioners’ talk.

Background of the April 25 Appeal

Nearly 100 graduate students studying social work attended the talk, which gave them an understanding of the People’s Republic of China and the CCP to set the context around the significance of the April 25 Appeal.

A practitioner told the students about the CCP’s draconian control over Chinese society since it came to power in 1949. It ran a series of political campaigns that targeted various social minorities in order to enforce its power over society and squash dissent, with many of them ending in violence against the selected minorities. He listed the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 as examples.

In 1999, police in Tianjin arrested 45 Falun Dafa practitioners. About 10,000 practitioners gathered outside the State Council Appealing Office in Beijing on April 25 to request the release of the arrested practitioners.

The appeal was orderly and quiet. All the practitioners went home without incident after then-premier Zhu Rongji assured the practitioners that they would be able to continue to practice Falun Dafa undisturbed.

Although afterward the April 25 Appeal was deliberately misrepresented by the CCP as a political attack to demonize Falun Dafa, it was, as the practitioner said, a sign that the spirit of resistance had not been extinguished in China.

Sympathy and Support

Many students were curious about Falun Dafa. The practitioners showed a short documentary chronicling how the spiritual practice grew immensely popular in China for its health benefits and its guiding principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

By the late 90s, the CCP estimated that 100 million Chinese were practicing Falun Dafa, which exceeded the number of CCP members. Thus, it launched the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, with the intention of completely eradicating its influence. Falun Dafa practitioners were arbitrarily arrested, tortured, killed, and some had their organs harvested.

Several students expressed their sympathy and support for practitioners.

Divya, one of the students, said that the persecution of Falun Dafa was a violation of human rights, and should be paid attention to.

Another student Rupali, emphasized the importance of standing up against oppression and for humanity in supporting practitioners. Her classmate Vanshika agreed that it was important to make this story known.

“It is our responsibility to stand up against the destruction of lives,” said Vanshika.

Another student John said that as people living in India, it was good to care for their neighbors in China.

The session ended with a few words of thanks from St. Joseph’s Dean of Social Work, Fr. Dr. G Augustine Lourdu, who expressed gratitude for the practitioners’ efforts in bringing awareness to such an important topic of human rights violation.

He said, “Social work requires courage, and people cannot simply be armchair activists. When there is a violation of human rights, people must have the courage to speak out because every person’s voice can make a difference in changing what is happening around them.”