Throughout my journalistic career, I often found my father (now 80) coming up with some innovative story ideas and observations. Now settled in the serene vineyards around Nasik, around 200 km from Mumbai, I’m often amazed with the jest with which he watches news channels. Why, on earth? “It’s complete entertainment,” comes the answer as he sips his favourite beer.

“How insulting,” I screamed in defence of my community. “Newsgathering and meeting deadlines is hard work.”

“It shows, huh!” that soft reply from behind the big swinging chair.

So I switch on the box to see if things are so bad. It’s the eternal M F Husain debate on CNN-IBN. The ever aggressive Sagarika Ghose fired the first salvo at senior artist Anjalie Ela Menon – “Can the Husain issue be seen an attack on freedom of expression?”

“No, not all. We have gone and protested against everyone…”

Bad timing, I guess…

Next in the line of fire – BJP’s Seshadri Chari, who for the channel represented  all that was fanatical Hindu. Chari played it smart. He remained cool, calm and refused to be provoked. “Forget what the VHP and Bajrang Dal have said (really?!). The perception is that he has painted certain Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the nude. So now it is for MF Husain to come and explain it. When he was asked why he painted Hitler in the nude he had said those whom he hates and those whom he wants to humiliate he paints them in the nude. This is what he had said in an interview.”

No firecrackers here, too. Enter the fiesty Jayanthi Natarajan, Congress spokeswoman. Will the Home Ministry support Husain now, especially since no police protection was given for Husain when organisers wanted him to attend the India Art Summit. “I don’t think it is the highest on our list of priorities at the moment given the acts of terror against the country. We have considerable respect for Husain’s artistic oeuvre, as you put it. But it is simply not the job of the government in my view.”

Here we go…screams of protests, shock make Ms Natarajan further angry. She wants to be heard and completely. So the channel gives her further time to clarify her own statement – terrorism is priority and not art summit. But the Congress spokesperson is not going to take the protest to her clarification lying down. Amidst chaos and noise, Ghose says her producer is asking her to take a break or face dire consequences.

Unfortunately, as it happens in most TV debates, the panelists who are supposed to throw light on the controversy, never get enough time. Here too, Husain’s lawyer Akhil Sibal made a few valid points, but time ran out. Is there any legal impediment stopping Husain to come back? What’s status of his case? And most importantly, does HE want to come back? Tough luck for these querries.

The final shot came from Anjalie Ela Menon, “We really don’t care whether he is on this soil or not. We all go to meet him and I have had a nice ride in his red Ferrari. The world has shrunk so it doesn’t really matter whether he is here or there. If you think he is unhappy then you all are sadly mistaken.”

This is the way debates should end. With a question – why are we debating this subject at all? Amen…