A Chinese New Year's Eve suicide attempt by
followers of the Falun Gong cult has prompted calls from
people for harsher measures to deal with the cult.
The incident took place on January 23, when
seven members of the cult, including a 12-year-old girl, set
themselves on fire on Tian'anmen Square. One died and four
were seriously injured.
Leaders from five
major religions in China have expressed their indignation
about the crimes committed by the evil cult.
The Tian'anmen Square incident demonstrates
the Falun Gong's anti-social and anti-human nature, turning
a blind eye to human rights and human life, Chinese
religious leaders said on Wednesday.
Michael
Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Catholic Patriotic
Association, was angered by the appalling incident.
He said it proves that the Falun Gong is not a
religion, but an out-and-out evil cult, noting that Li
Hongzhi intended to damage social stability and the
auspicious atmosphere of the Spring Festival regardless of
the cost of the lives of his followers.
Fu's
viewpoints were echoed by other religious leaders.
Hoodwinked by the malicious fallacies of Li
Hongzhi, founder of the Falun Gong cult, five practitioners,
including a 12-year-old girl and her mother, soaked
themselves in gasoline and set themselves on fire at around
2:40 pm on the eve of China's Lunar New Year. Another two
failed to ignite themselves and were stopped by police. The
mother died on the spot and four others were injured. Police
rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the injured to
the local hospital.
Yanjue, a Buddhist master
from the Guangji Temple in Beijing, believes the case is yet
another lesson for the ignorant Falun Gong practitioners.
Akhund Ma Yunfu, vice-chairman of the Islamic
Association of China, pointed out that the cult is the same
as other evil sects in America and Africa, and that cracking
down on them is vital to protect human rights.
Priest Shi Zesheng, vice-chairman of the
Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant
Churches of China, said that while organizing the incident,
the leaders of the Falun Gong cult denied their involvement
with it. The incident has again proved that the cult is a
malign tumour in society, he said, calling on the general
public to remove it.
On Wednesday, Chinese
scientists described the recent suicide incident as an
obsessive and shocking action which revealed the
"anti-humanity, anti-society and anti-science"
nature of the cult.
Lu Yongxiang, president of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said he was shocked
and outraged and said the cult had shown its true colours as
a cult that confronted the people and the government at the
expense of the lives and families of its own members, while
advocating truthfulness, goodness and endurance. He
predicted the fight against the cult will be a long one.
Cults will be eliminated only when science is deeply rooted
in the mind of the broad masses, he said, adding that the
CAS, China's leading research organization, will continue to
try its best to popularize science in the future.
Nuclear Scientist He Zuoxiu, who began to
denounce the Falun Gong cult in April 1999, said the
terrifying suicide attempt of the seven cult members
represents the typical blinding action of all world cults.
He and many other scientists felt sorry for and sympathized
with the fate of two beautiful girls badly burnt in the
event. He said the cult has been rapidly politicizing itself
and very few cults in the world have been so politicized as
them.
"I've received lots of letters and
leaflets from the cult, many of which viciously attacked top
leaders of the Chinese Government," said He. He and
some other scientists called for greater efforts to educate
cult members and toughen measures against the very few
extremists.
Teachers at the Central
Conservatory of Music in Beijing have convened to condemn
the Falun Gong cult, who bewitched the conservatory's
sophomore Chen Guo to try and kill herself with the other
six on January 23.
Chen, 19, specializes in
playing the traditional Chinese instrument pipa at the
conservatory.
Liu Xiangyan, headmaster of the
primary school affiliated to the Central Conservatory of
Music, recalled Chen Guo started her music education at the
school when she was 11 years old. The pretty girl was from
Kaifeng, Central China's Henan Province. After successfully
competing with thousands of applicants nationwide, she got
into the prestigious school two years ago, Liu said.
Jiang Zhichao, one of the heads of the
department, said the school discovered in 1999 that Chen was
a Falun Gong practitioner. At the help from the school, Chen
promised she would stop joining in the cult's activities.
But her mother, also a member of the cult,
affected her again during the winter holiday, Jiang said.
(Xinhua 02/02/2001)
Cult Anti-social, Anti-humanity
2003-11-20 17:12