India, March 15 -- Public discourse in India often reveals how fragile the understanding of foundational concepts can be. A recent controversy surrounding remarks made by Kirti Azad, a Member of Parliament from the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), offers a telling example.

Azad reportedly criticised members of India national cricket team for visiting a Hanuman temple after their triumphant victory in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final on March 8. His comment suggested that such a visit was somehow inconsistent with the secular ethos that India claims to uphold.

Kirti Azad's comment was impulsive, ill-thought-out, shallow and condemnatory in a manner that displayed an unfortunate lack of understanding of the meaning of secularism in In...