(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Calgary on April 22, 2024 to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal.

The street was filled with traffic, and drivers and passersby could read the banners displayed by practitioners with the words, “Falun Dafa Is Good,” “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China,” “China: Stop Murdering for Organs,” etc. Many drivers rolled down their windows, honked their horns, or gave practitioners a thumbs up to show their support. Some accepted fliers while some spoke with practitioners and asked for more information about Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong).

Practitioners held a rally in front of the Chinese consulate in Calgary on April 22, 2024 to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the April 25 Peaceful Appeal.

Peaceful and Rational Appeal

Jeff Yang, spokesperson for Falun Dafa practitioners in Calgary, said that on April 25 twenty five years ago, more than ten thousand Falun Dafa practitioners from all over China gathered at the State Council Letters and Calls Office near Zhongnanhai in Beijing. They asked that 45 practitioners who had been illegally arrested in Tianjin be released, and that their constitutional right to practice Falun Dafa be upheld.

Jeff Yang, spokesperson for Falun Dafa practitioners in Calgary, addressed the event.

Jeff said, “The international community and media said this appeal was the most peaceful large-scale appeal in Chinese history. Under the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) brutal dictatorship, Falun Dafa practitioners erected a monument for peaceful and rational appeals against the persecution in China.”

However, Jeff also said that the Appeal in 1999 also marked the start of Falun Dafa’s suppression by the CCP and its former leader. “In the more than two decades after that, the CCP has carried out an inhumane and brutal persecution against Falun Dafa, which includes harvesting practitioners’ organs while they are still alive.”

Encouragement for Practitioners

Jodika McKinley, a hynotherapist and nutritionist, lives in a condominium across the street from the Chinese consulate. She passed by the rally and said, “Falun Dafa practitioners meditate and peacefully appeal. I totally support practitioners’ peaceful efforts to expose the persecution.” She also said, “People really need to stand up and object to the CCP and return China back to the Chinese people. I wish Falun Dafa practitioners and all the Chinese people all the best from the bottom of my heart.”