FalunInfo.in Falun Info Center, India · Documenting the persecution of Falun Dafa and why it matters in India

A Peaceful Spiritual Practice.
Persecuted for More Than 27 Years.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice based on meditation, five exercises and the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.

Since July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has carried out a nationwide campaign to suppress the practice and those who follow it.

Falun Info Center, India documents the persecution, its impact beyond China, and developments relevant to India.

Understand the Persecution Latest Articles
Falun Dafa practitioners doing standing exercises together in an Indian parkGroup practice session on a lawn in India, practitioners standing in rowsPractitioners with arms raised in the second Falun Dafa exercise under park treesRows of practitioners seated in meditation on the grassPractitioner in a Falun Dafa shirt meditating cross-legged in a parkPractitioners seated in quiet meditation during a group session in India
Falun Dafa group practice in an Indian park. Practitioner photographs.

What Happened?

What happened to Falun Dafa in China?

A practice that grew rapidly

Falun Dafa was introduced publicly in China in 1992 and spread widely through word of mouth. By the late 1990s, tens of millions of people were practising across the country.

Thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners exercising together in a Chinese city square before the 1999 ban
Mass morning practice in China before the July 1999 ban. Falun Dafa Information Center archive.

Then came the crackdown

In July 1999, then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide campaign to eliminate Falun Dafa. Practitioners were subjected to arrest, detention, imprisonment, coercive “transformation,” censorship and propaganda.

Plainclothes police officers pinning a Falun Gong practitioner to the ground in Beijing as a crowd watches
Plainclothes police detain a practitioner in Beijing. Press photograph; credit under confirmation.

The campaign did not stop at China’s borders

Over time, practitioners and organisations outside China have reported surveillance, intimidation, diplomatic pressure, interference with events and other forms of transnational repression.

Practitioners march in New York behind banners reading Stop the Persecution of Falun Dafa in China
Peaceful march in New York calling for an end to the persecution.
See how the persecution developed

Why Was Falun Dafa Targeted?

Why would an authoritarian state fear people meditating in parks?

The answer lies not in the exercises themselves, but in the nature of independent belief under one-party rule.

By the late 1990s, Falun Dafa had become enormously popular while remaining independent of Communist Party control. Its spiritual teachings, large following and autonomous community increasingly conflicted with a political system that sought ideological authority over organised social life.

The persecution that followed was not simply a ban on a meditation practice. It became an effort to force practitioners to renounce their beliefs and to reshape how the wider public understood Falun Dafa.

Why Falun Dafa was targeted
Hundreds of people practising Falun Dafa exercises in rows before a temple in 1990s China
Group practice in China in the 1990s. Falun Dafa Information Center archive.

What Does the Persecution Look Like?

What does persecution look like?

Detention and imprisonment

Practitioners have been detained, imprisoned and sentenced for refusing to renounce their beliefs or for distributing information about the persecution.

Learn more

Torture and coercion

Human-rights reports and survivor testimonies have documented physical abuse, torture and coercive efforts to force practitioners to abandon their faith.

Learn more

Propaganda and censorship

The crackdown was accompanied by a large-scale state propaganda campaign designed to demonise Falun Dafa, justify repression and isolate practitioners socially.

Understand the propaganda campaign

Forced organ harvesting

Investigators, parliamentary bodies and independent tribunals have examined allegations that prisoners of conscience, particularly Falun Dafa practitioners, have been killed for their organs. The Chinese government denies that such abuses occur.

Examine the evidence

Beyond China

The persecution began in China. Its consequences did not remain there.

Falun Dafa practitioners outside China live in free societies, practise openly and participate in public life.

Yet over the years, governments, courts, researchers and civil-society organisations have documented or examined incidents involving surveillance, threats, interference, diplomatic pressure and other attempts to extend the CCP’s political red lines beyond China’s borders.

When that pressure touches journalists, public institutions or civil society in another country, the issue is no longer only about Falun Dafa.

It becomes a question of press freedom, freedom of belief, foreign influence and national sovereignty.

For India, these questions deserve particular attention whenever a foreign government seeks to influence who may speak, report, assemble or ask questions on Indian soil.

Falun Dafa & India Transnational Repression India Media Coverage
Practitioners in yellow march in Washington, DC carrying framed portraits of persecution victims, the US Capitol behind
Practitioners in Washington, DC honour victims of the persecution. Falun Dafa Information Center.

Latest Analysis & Reporting

Articles from Falun Info Center, India

Examining the persecution through the lenses of press freedom, foreign policy, human rights, propaganda, medical ethics and India’s national interest.

Should a Foreign Government Have a Say in Who Questions Its Leaders on Indian Soil?

The most consequential part of ThePrint’s recent report about China and the forthcoming BRICS summit may not be about Falun Gong at all.

Falun Info Center, India

They Meditate in Indian Parks. Why Does Beijing Consider Falun Gong a Threat?

To most Indians encountering Falun Dafa for the first time, there is little about it that looks geopolitical.

Falun Info Center, India

When Repression Crosses Borders, It Becomes a Sovereignty Question

For years, discussions about Falun Gong were framed largely as a human-rights issue inside China.

Falun Info Center, India

What Indian Journalists Should Check Before Quoting Beijing on Falun Gong

There is a simple rule journalists apply to governments, corporations and political parties:

Falun Info Center, India
View All Articles

Evidence Standard

Read the evidence. Reach your own conclusion.

FalunInfo.in aims to distinguish clearly between documented facts, allegations, official positions and independent findings.

Our articles link, wherever possible, to primary records and credible external sources including court documents, government reports, parliamentary material, human-rights organisations, independent investigations and original media coverage.

On disputed subjects, we seek to identify what has been established, what remains contested and what the Chinese government has denied.

Evidence & Sources For Journalists

Curious about Falun Dafa itself?

FalunInfo.in focuses on the persecution and related public-interest issues.

If you would like to learn Falun Dafa, read the teachings or find a local practice site in India, please visit the official Falun Dafa websites: FalunDafa.org · FalunDafaIndia.org · India practice sites (activities are free of charge and volunteer-run).

For Journalists

Need background information, source material, clarification or someone who can speak further?

Falun Info Center, India can help journalists access relevant documents, practitioners and subject-matter resources.

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