NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Former New Glasgow councillor and longtime Pictou County resident Ross Hamid was watching the news from Sri Lanka closely this week.
It’s the country he was raised in before immigrating to Canada in the 1970s. When he heard about the explosions that killed more than 300 people in several churches and hotels last Sunday, he tried to contact his brother and sisters who still live there. While it was difficult to get a connection initially, he was finally able to get through.
“It was difficult to track them down yesterday,” he said on Monday. “They’re all OK.”
When he was talking to them, he learned about the state of emergency that had been declared and a 24-hour curfew that’s in place. The government has also shut down social media sites in the aftermath of the explosions.
“Of course they were concerned,” he said. “The only way they can keep abreast is by the media.”
Hamid grew up in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. He said he’s very familiar with some of the areas that were hit and was in one of the hotels that was targeted during a recent trip to his native country.
“I’m very familiar,” he said. “I was there a year ago.”
Hamid came to Canada in 1978, but has been back to Sri Lanka periodically to visit family. He was actually planning to take another trip this year but because of the attacks, that will have to be put on hold.
Like Canada, Hamid said Sri Lanka is a melting pot of different cultures. In Sri Lanka they have people with Dutch and British descent as well as Portuguese. Between 1983 and 2009 there was an intense civil war in Sri Lanka as the Tamil Tigers (who trace their ancestry to Southern India) tried to create their own state. The government forces of Sri Lanka won the war and Hamid said there has been relative peace since then, which made the attacks on Easter weekend all the more shocking.
New Glasgow man born in Sri Lanka thankful to hear family safe
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