Preparations for the consecration of the idol at Ayodhya on January 22 are in full swing, with the Hindutva legion forcing its celebration down the throats of the whole country or at least where it holds sway. Many in the opposition are not invited or plan to boycott the event, which will be presided over by the nation's prime minister, not a pujari. Does the devotee seek to be deified?

The proponents of the temple aver that those raising their voices against it seek to thwart the coming of the Ram-Rajya, including some who would claim the mantle of the educated while whipping up such obnoxious contentions. The notion that these vociferous individuals are the ones desperately seeking its advent evades the imagination of the multitude. The pro-Temple champions would appreciate that the Temple's construction or consecration does not perturb the decriers even vaguely were they to even care to hearken to the laments of those they calumnise. Instead, they would prefer to villainise those who prophesy the impending apocalyptic scenario deucedly awaiting to ambush us should religion tango with politics.

The prana pratishtha bestows life on the idol and the Temple where it resides. Ironic! Since it will be the vanguard of claims employed by the unscrupulous in their rise to the throne and suffocate those who do not cower to their whims.

Arguments abound that the Muslims have Pakistan and other countries which subscribe to the Mohammedan creed, but have the fans of the Hindutva ideology ever read about the condition of these countries? Do they ever wish to reside or work in them? Instead, they look to the Americas or Europe, where secularism, albeit, I must admit, in its extremity, thrives. They crave for their children to reside there.

Could our great nation not have been brought up to par or its degree raised superlatively? But where is the capital and energy allocated to such endeavours? Diverted towards gaining collective acclaim by playing an emotive motif, I would venture, while those who should have been oppugnant slept because, for them, the designs were kindred superficially, and the sentinels bought off.

Rahul has recently embarked on a march to unite the nation from end to end, appreciably from the strife-torn state of Manipur, where the national leaders have yet to materialise. But are the attempts at the liaison a little too late and too little? Its potency to sway the electorate is up in the air—a glance at the dissatisfaction within the ranks of the Congress bespeaks of its bleakness.

The banality of these postulations might have bored many a reader who would wish to peruse something more upbeat to death. Many wonder at the constructiveness and pragmatism of pursuing these irking issues incessantly. However, they need to see that the denizens of countries that have pursued such courses suffer.

The democratic framework of our motherland has provided us with the capacity to change what we will. Unfortunately, illiteracy, misinformation, nescience and apathy, among other reasons, have led to a disuse of this faculty. Akin to Tagore, I implore, "Let my country awake", lest that potential is lost forever.