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“To be Yaghnobi, for me, means to have rights and obligations. We who returned have duties — not only to our families, but to our culture, our land, and each other.” — Shahob, unemployed, 30s Shahob was born far from the steep trails and glacial air of the Yaghnob Valley. His parents were resettled…
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“I was born in Zafarabod, lived there more than 10 years. But I consider myself Yagnobi. My citizenship is Tajikistan — but my motherland is Yaghnob.” — Muzzaffar, age 26 For Muzzaffar, there were two worlds. The flat, dry lands of Zafarobod where he was born, and the snow-lined peaks of a valley…
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“We didn’t understand what they were saying — just that we had to go. Since I moved to Zafarobod, I have lost nine children. Can you imagine? Nine.” — Bokiev, peasant, born 1930 The morning the helicopters came, Bokiev was feeding his sheep. The air in the Yaghnob Valley had always been quiet —…
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Every time one person tells the truth of what happened, the silence breaks a little more. This post begins a series. A series of voices — some quiet, some fierce — returning to the surface after decades of being buried by geography, politics, and time. These are the stories of Yaghnobi people: their forced…