“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…
“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…
“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 —…
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…