The standardization policy introduced by Sirimavo Bandaranaike's United Front Government was aimed at addressing a higher education issue that caused worry to the majority community Sinhalese andndash; the low number of university admissions at that time. But Bandaranaike's attempt backfired, strongly so, when a Tamil student by the name of Satyaseelan reacted swiftly and formed what came to be known as the Tamil Manavar Peravai, or the Tamil Students' League, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

From time to time, politicians from the South, especially during various phases of political negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have dangled a particular carrot before the Tamil community from the North and East andndash; elections in the provinces to elect their own representatives.

Strap- The rights of the working class are forgotten in Sri Lanka as political pageantry takes centre stage

For the government, besieged by allegations of war crimes and critiqued by the international community for the alleged violation of a wide variety of rights andndash; ranging from the right to free expression to one's right to life andndash; the Matale mass grave provides just the respite it may have been looking for.

Sri Lanka is situated in close proximity to India, her giant neighbour, and is separated by two bodies of water andndash; the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay, an arm of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean, lying between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka. The distance between these two points is a mere 160-200 km and no more.

There is a bit of Taliban andndash; if the metaphor can be excused andndash; growing both in Colombo and the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. These are sections of society in both places, ready to draw each other's blood out, yet both countries appear content to allow such status quo to continue.

While DMK antics would have little influence in Geneva, there is growing hostility between Colombo and Tamil Nadu.

Jeyaram Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, regularly bleeds for Sri Lankan Tamils and the Tamil cause, and often manages to beat Sri Lankan Tamils to it.

The Swiss capital of Geneva is experiencing a swift temperature rise with the heat generated by a little Indian Ocean island, Sri Lanka. Though the land mass as well as the population may be small and the country may not find itself among the political heavyweights, the problems of this nation are gargantuan.

Eight months ago, with the presentation of a National Action Plan to Implement the Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), ministerial tongues were wagging about 50% of the recommendations being already implemented.