Speaking at a Jaffna press conference at the Jaffna Press Club on Monday, Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam praised the people of the North for demand for self-determination expressed by their votes at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections last month.

Listen to press conference in Tamil here:

Standing by the TNPF’s decision to boycott the election, Gajendrakumar said that the Tamil people of the North were to be praised for rejecting Sri Lankan rule in the Tamil homeland, and for expressing their enduring desire for the right to self-determination, despite all the obstacles and hardships they have faced in the four years since the end of the armed conflict.

"We also view this [election result] as something special. As you well know, our party boycotted this election completely."

"But despite that, we did not ask the Tamil people to boycott the election or to act in a way that we instructed. As you well know we did released a written statement, that only a few media outlets covered. In that way, we left the election to the conscience of the people."

"As far as we are concerned, even today, the [Tamil] people have clearly expressed their aspirations, namely, firstly, they have categorically rejected the Sri Lankan state's conduct and rule within the Tamil homeland. Secondly, with regards to Tamil political aspirations, even today, they have once again, resolutely voted for the right to self-determination, seeking the reaffirmation of our nationhood, and unanimously, for the freedom of a nation; in a vote that has no historic precedence."

"We bow our heads to their [Tamil people's] act"

Gajendrakumar said that his party would work to keep the people actively engaged in politics, outside of election time.

The highly controversial Northern-Provincial Elections took place today, after a week that saw the attack of an electoral candidate’s residence, the death of a TNA campaigner and several other draconian measures .

Sources suggest that over 60% of eligible voters took part in all districts of the Northern Province. The district of Jaffna had the lowest turn-out of 60%.

The past week saw citizens of the North subject to heightening intimidation and misinformation.

Less than two days before the Northern Provincial Council election, one of the most vocal and outspoken candidates of the Tamil National Alliance’s electoral campaign Ananthi Sasitharan narrowly escaped an attack at her home.

Consequently, an election monitor, who rushed to the scene after receiving a call from Ananthi, was brutally attacked.

Full Coverage: SL army attack Ananthy Sasitharan's home   (20 September 2013)

Fake prints of the Uthayan newspaper were distributed around the Northern Province, exhibited fictitious calls from the TNA that urged voters to boycott the elections. The forged paper went as far as alleging that TNA candidate, Ananthi Sasitharan, had pledged a new alliance to the ruling party, the UPFA.

Copy of fake Uthayan Newspaper- Courtesy www.Seithy.com

"Theravada Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that takes as its authority of set of texts written in Paali, which go back many many centuries to two millennia. This is the kind of Buddhism that is followed by Buddhists in Sri Lanka, South East, Thailand, Cambodia and Lao.

Mahayana Buddhism which is the other main stream of Buddhism, to simplify things, is the kind of Buddhism followed in Tibet and China. They have scriptures that correspond in some way to the Pali cannon but they also have additional texts that they take as authoritative."

"There are texts that have been used in recent years to justify violence."

"For example there are texts, the Buddha once spoke with a mercenary. The mercenary asked the Buddha for example, 'Look I'm not an aahat [enlightened being], I'm not enlightened, what I'm doing though is my job, will I have repurcussions for it?' And the Buddha said 'yes, you'll have repurcussions for it. Not for the act of killing, but for holding debase thoughts and bad intentions whilst doing the killing'.

This text has been used sometimes, by for example by Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka right now, by Buddhist monks in Thailand, to give sermons to soldiers to cool their minds, in order for them to clear thoughts whilst doing the killing."

Addressing press in Colombo at the end of her seven day visit to Sri Lanka and the North-East, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said,

"I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,"

"It is important everyone realizes that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not."