NEW DELHI, Jan. 22 -- I cannot help but recall December 6, 1992; it was a Sunday. I had invited the founder editor of this journal, the late Fr. John Vallamattom, to be the chief guest at the annual day celebration of St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Karol Bagh, New Delhi, where I was the elected secretary.

In his speech, he hoped that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, led by Kalyan Singh, would honour the promise made to the Supreme Court not to allow the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. He envisioned it standing as a symbol of Indian secularism.

None of us in the church knew that the karsevaks assembled at Ayodhya under the leadership of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were using pickaxes, ropes, and other implements to raz...