If you need to understand the shallowness of Indian political secularism, the recent fuss over Narendra Modi is an eye-opener, assuming we need one more eye-opener to acknowledge this phenomenon. Last week, Samajwadi party leader and Urdu journalist Shahid Siddiqui was declared persona non grata by his party for having the temerity to interview Modi. What would normally have been considered a coup for any journalist – for Modi rarely gives interviews – was seen as a sin in Siddiqui.