A Year Of Repression Against Tajikistan's Pamiris In Gorno-Badakhshan

In mid-May 2022, the Tajik government initiated a brutal crackdown on the people of eastern Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan region: the Pamiris. Pamiris are ethnically and culturally distinct from Tajiks; and unlike most Tajiks who are Sunni Muslims, Pamiris are Shi’ite. Dozens of Pamiris have been killed, more than 100 imprisoned, and over the course of the last year, there has been a systematic destruction of Pamiri culture in Gorno-Badakhshan. Joining host Bruce Pannier to look at the repressive targeting of Pamiris are guests Suzanne Levi-Sanchez, author of the book Bridging State And Civil Society: Informal Organizations In Tajik/Afghan Badakhshan and Bakhtiyor Safarov, founder of Central Asia Consulting in the United States, who is originally from Gorno-Badakhshan.