India, March 31 -- I used to write a fortnightly column for The Indian Express, where I was in charge of the editorial page. One of my regular readers was my relative and theologian, the late Dr John K John, who lived in Dehradun. He often told me about a "Christian apologist," Vishal Mangalwadi, and advised me to read his books. However, I did not pay much attention to his suggestion at the time.

One day, Dr John gifted me a book by Mangalwadi, which attempted to counter Arun Shourie's arguments that Christians were loyal to the British rather than to India.

I had previously heard from some Catholic priests about how the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India had invited Shourie to address a conference. He had sought information about t...