Candidate Platform Demand
“I call on the United States to recognize May 18, as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, honoring Tamil civilians killed during the final stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 and the families who continue to seek truth about their loved ones. Remembrance must be paired with sustained action for justice.”
Basis for the Proposal
Precedent in Canada
On May 18, 2022, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion acknowledging the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and recognizing May 18, each year as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. Ontario’s Tamil Genocide Education Week Act, 2021, proclaims the seven-day period ending May 18 as an annual education week.
United Nations Findings
A UN panel reported that as many as 40,000 civilians may have died during the final stages of the war. The 2015 investigation by the UN human rights office documented grave violations and abuses by the Sri Lankan government, including indiscriminate shelling, and urged credible accountability. A 2024 UN report pressed for truth, justice, reparations, and answers for families of the disappeared.
My Demands as a Candidate for Congress
Recognize May 18
Introduce and support a congressional resolution naming May 18 Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day and honoring victims, survivors, and their families.
Hold Public Hearings
Hear survivor testimony and examine UN findings, on enforced disappearances, and continuing barriers to accountability.
Seek Independent Investigation
Support preservation of evidence and an independent international examination of the atrocities, including whether they meet the legal definition of genocide.
Press for Truth and Justice
Call on Sri Lanka to account for the disappeared, protect peaceful remembrance and right to build memorials, and provide meaningful reparations.
Protect Tamil Rights
Advance equal political participation, cultural and language rights, and protection from discrimination and marginalization by Sri Lanka Government against Tamil minority.
Proposed House Resolution Language
“The House of Representatives recognizes May 18, of each year as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day; honors Tamil civilians killed during the final stages of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict and all victims of grave abuses; stands with survivors and families of the disappeared; and calls for independent investigation, preservation of evidence, accountability, reparations, and protection of the human rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
Canada’s House of Commons explicitly acknowledged this as a genocide. A U.S. resolution can express congressional recognition while also calling for a full, independent legal examination of the evidence.
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