Onslaught on culture

RUBAB: ARTIST VOWS NO FORCE, PERSON OR SYSTEM CAN SILENCE SOUND

Wood shavings littered the floor of Sakhi's workshop in the Afghan city of Herat as another rubab, the national musical instrument of his homeland, took shape under his deft hands.

Sakhi has crafted two rubabs a month for decades and he refuses to set down his tools even as a Taliban crackdown strangles music in Afghanistan.

"I know only this work and I need to make money somehow," said Sakhi, surrounded by rubabs in various stages of completion.

But far more important to him than money is the "cultural value," said the craftsman in his 50s, whose name has been changed for his safety, along with those of others interviewed.

"The value of this work for me is...the heritage it holds. The heritage must not be lost," he said.