Protecting our fellow yogis in China from Government

[Guest guest]

Yogi Bhajan wanted us to be strong, creative, compassionate Aquarians,

yogi Sikhs, if you will. We don't have to don the dress of a Sikh, or

do 31 minutes of Sat Kriya every morning. Instead, we do what we can

to be students of truth, and to take action every day for the

betterment of our lives and society, in which we are " householders " .

 

It's with the betterment of society in mind that I share this story on

the Chinese Government's persecution of our fellow yogis - called

Falun Gong - in that country. When I lived near the Chinese Embassy

in Washington, DC, I witnessed Falun Gong Chinese meditating daily in

front of the embassy. In one of their falun gong brochures, I

noticed that all the faith was, was a series of yoga/meditation

postures. Pretty inoccuous and universal stuff. We yogis need to

unite with our fellow yogis worldwide, to pursue a political stucture

that binds Governments so they never again can interfere in an

individual's spiritual pursuits. The story is below:

 

Blessings,

Amar Atma

 

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http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5774

 

Large Number of Beijing Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested Before

Olympics

 

Published on Tuesday, March 04, 2008.

 

Source: Epoch Times

 

According to sources from Beijing, from the end of 2007 to early this

year, at least 100 Falun Gong practitioners with confirmed names

(oftentimes practitioners do not reveal their true identity to protect

family, friends and colleagues) have been arrested in Beijing.

 

Some were immediately sentenced to eight months in prison. It is

believed to be a new round of suppression by the Chinese Communist

Party before the next session of the National Congress in March and

the Olympics in August 2008.

 

A Beijing Falun Gong practitioner, Li Qingyun (alias) said, in an

interview with The Epoch Times that, that since the end of 2007, he

has known of more than 10 Falun Gong practitioners being arrested.

According to data from the Falun Gong website Minghui.net, since the

end of last year, at least 100 Falun Gong practitioners have been

secretly arrested in Beijing. According to the latest news from

Beijing, there were over 40 arrests between Jan. 23 and 25.

 

Another Falun Gong practitioner in Beijing, a mechanical engineer

named Fang Ping (alias), said that among her friends, some were

arrested at checkpoints while they driving out of town being

discovered that they were Falun Gong practitioners; some were directly

arrested from home and carried away. There are police at bus stations,

highway exits, and various depots; they have blanketed the entire city

of Beijing.

 

Li said that, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) suppression of Falun

Gong has never stopped. Using the excuse of the Olympics, they attempt

to make Falun Gong disappear. Therefore, the arrest of Falun Gong

practitioners is planned, systematic, and a progressive step by step

action.

 

Li told the reporter that the arrests were on direct orders of the

Districts Party Commission of Beijing, organized by base level branch

offices, community centers, neighborhood committees, police stations,

and detention centers; some are responsible for monitoring and some

are responsible for arrests. They break into Falun Gong practitioners'

homes at will to take pictures of the contents of closets, boxes,

drawers, etc., and would make arrests whenever any Falun Gong

materials are found.

 

During these large-scale arrests, the police have arrested Falun Gong

practitioners without giving any reasons, and sent them directly to

labor camps for eight months, just as the Olympic will be concluding.

 

And, they beat Falun Gong practitioners when they were just sent to

the labor camp regardless of whether the arrest is right or wrong.

Some labor camps sent the detained practitioners to camps outside

Beijing, which hints that those camps were already full.

 

Li said that, the arrested practitioners were sent to brainwashing

classes, labor camps and prisons. A special note is that in the labor

camps, people can be sent away or transferred with the signature of

the head of the camp alone. So-called appeals or administrative

reviews exist in name only.

 

Some Falun Gong practitioners' families went to the specified labor

camps, prisons, etc. to ask for the release of their family members,

but were told by authorities that they were only following orders from

higher up, or the lie " Falun Gong practitioners are against the

Olympics " was also used to legalize their crimes.

 

Fang told the reporter that, from February 22, Beijing had started a

39-day action period to clear out residents from outside of Beijing

and to centralize the control of temporary resident certificates. She

said, " I think this is aimed at Falun Gong practitioners. "

 

Fang said, " They want to use this means to find those Falun Gong

practitioners that they were unable to find previously. To get a

temporary resident certificate, one must provide identification, so,

it enables them to check up on him at his registered permanent residence. "

 

She said that, in addition to Falun Gong practitioners, migrant rural

workers, appellants and human rights advocators, were all considered

bad factors by the CCP, and the CCP was anxious to clear them from

Beijing. The intention was malicious.

 

She said, " When I told my relatives of my experience, they stared in

disbelief. They said that a highly educated person like myself

suffered such a predicament. The CCP is simply doomed. Actually,

Beijing people have been through so many hardships, they know. "

 

Fang expressed his respect for the famous movie director Steven

Spielberg for resigning from Beijing Olympic artistic adviser

position. She said, " Spielberg's conscience must have caused him to

make this decision. "

 

Finally, Li and Fang both expressed that they were thankful to have

this opportunity to be interviewed by an overseas media to spell out

their thoughts, not only about the Olympics but also about the illegal

acts of the authorities. They appealed to international community to

stop the CCP's atrocities.