Tajikistan: Ilhom Tells A Story

We are taking a brief side trip from Uzbekistan to spend an overnight in Tajikistan, a few hours’ drive south of Tashkent. We met our new local guide, Ilhom, and drove another couple of hours to the city of Khujand.

Ilhom was a only a toddler when the country officially declared independence in 1992, but because the country was immediately plunged into a devastating five-year long civil war, the events of that time are etched in his memory. The country changed presidents twice in the first year. Corruption and crime were rampant, and because the country shares a large border with Afghanistan, Islamic extremist groups wanted control over the new country.

Gangs set up checkpoints within the city, making sure people were conforming with radical Islamic practices. Women were at risk of being attacked and raped on their way to work, because women were not supposed to go out unescorted by a man. Ilhom’s mother was a farmer, and had to leave the house at 2 in the morning to get her goods to market because the gangs weren’t so active at that hour. He talked about 12-hour lines for bread, if you got it at all. We know it was hard for him to talk about it, and we appreciated him sharing his heartfelt story.

During the civil war, 100,000 were killed in the fighting; more than 10% of the population fled to rural areas, becoming refugees in their own country; and half a million residents fled the country altogether. The country’s third president was able to eventually broker a ceasefire in the country, making an agreement that the Islamic opposition could share 30% of government control, and Democratic leaders would have the rest. In 2015, the opposition was officially banned and designated as a terrorist organization, stripping Islamic groups of their legal political standing and government positions.

Ilhom gave his talk in Khujand’s Arbob Cultural Palace, where independence from the Soviet Union was declared, and where the civil war agreement was brokered 5 years later.

The president who brokered the civil war peace agreement is still in office today, 34 years later. The Tajik people like the peace and stability they have enjoyed, and are afraid of what they will get if they have an open election. It is expected that the current president’s son will be his successor.

A side note about the border crossing: We had to walk with our bags through open land on broken pathways to several checkpoints. I think we showed our passports four or five times on the way. One of the passport control officers wished Diane a happy birthday! (So they really do read them!) We saw cars and trucks leaving Tajikistan to enter Uzbekistan being thoroughly inspected and washed. We wondered if that’s because Uzbekistan is concerned about drugs or weapons or other smuggling. We didn’t ask them :)

After our group dinner, Abdul came up to Diane with the cake that would be served for dessert and said he was sorry that they couldn’t sing happy birthday—it is forbidden by law!Read more