It all boils down to lip-sync. And that’s what external affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava seemed to be saying last week when he said of India’s continuing standoff with China: “We have taken note of the Chinese side’s statement that it observes ‘strictly the agreements between the two sides and is committed to resolving the border issue through dialogue and safeguarding peace and tranquility’ in the border areas. We expect that the Chinese side will match its words with actions.” When words and actions are out of step, it is a lip sync error. And it is not just a Chinese malaise. So you have a country's top leadership talking about "democracy" and invoking "we, the people...", when the world is witness that hundreds of thousands of farmers belonging to 500 unions are out in the cold protesting farm laws for the third consecutive week. It must be a lip-sync issue because the leadership has pledged on record, "Debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy", but every time there is debate, dissent or plea for discussion, be it farmers or the women of Shaheen Bagh, the government seems to hear the self-same track --- “Maoist elements”, “anti-national forces”.

The ayes have it

It is a lip-sync issue or why else would the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh hear "ayes" when allies and those in Opposition had called for a clear division (vote) on farm bills? And you might remember how when Shaheen Bagh expressed solidarity with Kashmiri Pandits on January 19, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri heard it as a celebration of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. Lip-sync error explains why no matter what the visual, when the government tunes in to its people, all it hears is not wails of hunger, anxieties over joblessness, clamour for peace, but roars of nationalism. The visuals are of marching migrants, marching and falling by the way, scattered rotis on the rail-tracks, but the voiceover exhorts “atmanirbhar, atmanirbhar”.

Force reboot

It is lip-not-in-sync, as the people of Uttar Pradesh will tell you, when love is the proclaimed raison d'être, but the fallout is fractured unions. When you hear Adityanath saying he is committed to ensuring safety of women and yet all you see are reports of a hurried cremation of a gang rape victim. When they call it an election but it feels like a war. But it is not a lip-sync problem when the PM says economic indicators are raising hopes even in a pandemic situation, that recovery is faster than expected and all sectors are looking up, and yet the projected GDP contractions are 9.4 per cent. No Sir. That is the brightness key stuck at a blinding maximum. There is a virus in the system. Force reboot, anyone?