About 500 people yesterday participated in a re-enactment of a 1987 march in Tainan that was led by democracy pioneer Deng Nang-jung (鄭南榕) and called for amends to be made to those affected by the 228 Incident and their families.
On the 70th anniversary of the massacre and the 30th anniversary of the 228 Redress Movement, marchers set out from the Nanmen Florist Market on Nanmen Road and walked to Tang Te-chang Memorial Park, via Minquan Road — also known as Taiwanese Independence Street.
“Going via Minquan Road is of special significance, as Taiwanese independence is a cause that Deng fought for until his dying day,” said National Cheng Kung University Student Union member Wu Hsin-ju (吳馨如), who organized the march.
Democracy pioneers Lin Tsung-cheng (林宗正) and Huang Chao-kai (黃昭凱) also attended.
Wu said it was inspiring that two-thirds of the people who participated yesterday were under the age of 35, which she said was the younger generation’s recognition of her team’s efforts to “present history from a new perspective.”
When they reached the park, Huang presented Wu and members of several student groups a plaque that read: “Fight on for transitional justice,” symbolizing that the legacy of previous generations’ endeavors to fight for the common good had been passed to the younger generation.
A concert and ceremony were held in the evening at the university’s Deng Nang-jung Square, where participants arranged candles in the shape of Taiwan and prayed for history’s scars to be healed and the nation’s future to be bright.
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