The incident completely demonstrates the anti-society and anti- human nature of the evil cult because the cult turns a blind eye to human rights and life, Chinese religious leaders said Wednesday.

Michael Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Catholic Patriotic Association, was angered by the appalling incident.

Fu said the incident further proves that Falun Gong is by no means a religion, but an out-and-out evil cult.

The incident demonstrates that the leaders of the Falun Gong cult have embraced the overseas anti-China cliques, he said, noting that Li Hongzhi intended to damage the social stability and the auspicious atmosphere of the Spring Festival at 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 Falun Gong practitioners, including a 12-year-old girl, 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 practitioners failed to commit suicide after they were stopped by policemen.

One died on the spot and the four others injured in the suicide attempts. The police on duty rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the injured to a local hospital.

Yanjue, a Buddhist master from the Guangji Temple in Beijing, believes that the suicide case, a tragedy directed by Li Hongzhi, has time and again offered a lesson to the ignorant Falun Gong practitioners.

Yuan Zhihong, deputy secretary general of the China Taoist Association, said the Falun Gong cult has made its followers lose a normal sense of morality and it has become a common enemy of the general public, calling upon the Taoism adherents to support the struggle against the evil cult.

Akhund Ma Yunfu, vice-chairman of the Islamic Association of China, pointed out that the Falun Gong has turned out to be equivalent to those evil cults in America and Africa, saying that cracking down on the cult is the utmost protection of human rights.

Priest Shi Zesheng, vice-chairman of Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of Protestant Churches of China, said that while organizing the incident, the leaders of the Falun Gong cult came to deny its relevance with the incident.

The incident has time and again proven that the cult is a malign tumor in society, he said, calling on the general public to remove the tumor.

All religious leaders called for tighter measures against the Falun Gong cult in order to avoid the occurrence of a similar tragedy.

(People's Daily 02/01/01)