Paraguay—Land of Patal Bhairabi

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Nehal Adil
President Lugo of Paraguay was on a visit to South Asia. During his three-day stay in Delhi, he expressed his profound interest in South Asian investment in agriculture, forestry and minerals in his country. Paraguay is rich in natural resources with pasture land and fertile soil. Its climate is like ours. India and Pakistan have plenty of land compared to ours. Bangladesh with its enormous surplus labour could look forward to Paraguay. Bangladesh foreign secretary wanted to lease land in Sub-Saharan desert to grow rice. Paraguay, despite its distance could be an ideal choice.
Our ancient astronomers and mathematicians located a place opposite our country which had day when we had night, which had summer when we had winter. Their society was dominated by women when ours was dominated by men. They called that land Patal down the earth in our cosmic relations. It was dominated by Patal Bhairabis or women soldiers. When the westerners reached there, they found Amazons, the women fighters.
No it is not just myth as modern anthropological research finds, the region around Potosi, the most prosperous city in the Andes.
Today's Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile were single entity dominated by tribal democracies untouched by the Inca Empire. Paraguay by the Para river was at the heart of it. The Jesuits who were known as communists of their era had moved into that country to escape the persecution of all the emperors and blood thirsty capitalists. The matriarchal society of Paraguay gave them shelter.
When the Spanish and Portuguese colonial powers took hold of the neighbouring countries and divided among themselves as booties, the Jesuits patronised the indigenous Guarani language. Guarani today is the only indigenous language which is the national language of any country in the Americas. It is highly developed and is spoken by ninety five percent of Paraguayans along with Spanish. Today, a radical priest Lugo is the president of Paraguay and a guerrilla movement survives in its marshy swamps.
Paraguay has hot and humid weather just like ours. It has a land area of 150 thousand square miles, thrice ours, but it has a population of six and half million, one twentieth of ours. Recently some Bangladeshi immigrants have moved into Paraguay. They have set up some restaurants which are generally called Indian restaurants, though they are owned by Bangladeshis.
Paraguay produces mostly maze. Maze like rest of Latin America is their national crop. But its climate is suitable to grow rice and jute. In its high land vine grows. With vine they make a soft drink which is their national drink. It tastes like our Ruh Afza.
Paraguay's very survival is credited with the spirit of its women, the Patal Bhairabis as we can say. The successful experiment of the Jesuit state with the indigenous people angered its neighbours inhabited by white colonists. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay joined in a triple alliance to crush the young republic of President Lopez. Three-fourths of its male population was eliminated. The women came forward and resisted. The triple alliance failed to subjugate them totally and left. It was the women who helped the children grow and they grew up as men. This is a saga of Patal Bhariabis that our astronomers and astrologers wrote long ago.
We are often puzzled by to see Bishnu Murtis in Easter Islands off the coast of Chile. Easter Islands were known to our ancestors as Poush Dwip. Modern researchers cannot locate how they got there. We can call them myths, like the myths of Patal Bhairabi. But sometimes life turns between dream and reality.
An ardent revolutionary Dr Fidel Castro recently observed, while meeting the Pope, that we should extend our knowledge beyond the parameter of human intelligence.
We wonder how the world is moving around the sun in its egg shape. And in that egg shape earth there is Patal down. Stalin, educated as a priest, in his book Origin of Linguistic Science wrote about the predetermination of order. This historic materialism or dialectic reality is the basis of Marxism and modern communism which is blamed to be atheist.
And in that dialectic reality a radical priest and bunch of romantic revolutionaries co-exist in Paraguay, land of Para water. Para means holy. The Guarani women like our Garo women play the guiding role in a social system not unchanged by history.
It was very bold decision by our Prime Minister to set up International Mother Language Institute. But unfortunately in two decades virtually nothing has been done. Government to government level co-operation in this regard and patronisation of Guarani language could be bold step in the struggle for cultural and linguistic independence of the disinherited peoples of the world. Our language movement which gave birth to our nation, is an immortal example.
The first ambassador to South America in the post-British era Ambassador Morshed was a Bangalee. I could proudly recollect it. But unfortunately Pakistani rulers did little to promote our cultural and linguistic cause. Have we done anything more in post-liberation Bangladesh?
I hope our globe trotting Prime Minister could make a stop at Assuncion and next time Mr Lugo visits South Asia, he does not miss Dhaka.