UK: Clarifying the Facts in a Scottish University

On Saturday the 1st of November 2003, practitioners in Scotland attended the Annual Conference of the Modern Studies Association (M.S.A.) in a university near Glasgow. This is the second year that practitioners have been invited, after last year's successful activity. The M.S.A holds a particular interest in inviting Falun Gong because many secondary school teachers in Scotland teach China Studies as part of the Modern Studies curriculum, so the persecution of Falun Gong in China is of great interest to both teachers and pupils.

Practitioners set up a stall in the lobby area with leaflets, magazines, videos and Video-CDs, all offering information about the brutal and systematic persecution of innocent and peaceful practitioners in China. Many people signed a petition to rescue the practitioners who are related to UK residents, but are imprisoned in Chinese prisons and labour camps because they continue to practise Falun Gong and live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.

As teachers came out of the conference for a break, they bustled around the Falun Gong table, eager to take materials for use in their classes. Some teachers had been at last year's M.S.A conference and had taken materials from practitioners. They remarked that they had found the information very interesting and useful. Practitioners also offered to go to schools to give a presentation on the persecution. Many teachers were enthusiastic about this and gave their contact details. The organiser heartily thanked practitioners for attending the event.

Following the M.S.A conference last year, one practitioner in Scotland went to a secondary school near Edinburgh and gave a presentation about Falun Gong to a class of thirty pupils aged around fourteen. She showed a video and although she had warned the children that some footage of the torture victims was quite shocking, the children were nonetheless taken aback at the severity of the treatment meted out to practitioners in China. In the question and answer session after the video, the children made poignant remarks and were very angry at the injustice of this persecution. Three of the children were particularly interested in the subject as they were entering a human rights competition, which entailed putting together the front page of a newspaper on the topic of human rights. They decided to use the persecution of Falun Gong as their focus.

After the M.S.A event, practitioners went to Glasgow city centre to hand out leaflets about the persecution. Practitioners also brought along a couple of petitions and many people signed them. Overall, it was a very successful day.