# Full Vande Mataram now a punishable insult as Parliament passes Bill 2026-08-14T20:57:17+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets President Droupadi Murmu has given assent to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, granting the full six-stanza version of Vande Mataram the same legal protection as the national anthem. Intentionally disrupting its singing is now a criminal offence, punishable with up to three years in prison. The full song was played before and after her Independence Day eve address, and will be sung from the Red Fort ramparts for the first time on the 80th Independence Day. The government had launched a year-long celebration of the song's 150th anniversary in November 2025. Frontline reports that the Bill's passage overrides a 1950 Constituent Assembly decision to adopt only the first two stanzas as the national song, a compromise endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore who objected to later stanzas that invoke a Hindu deity. ## Coverage - frontline.thehindu.com - indiatoday.in - thefederal.com Tags: Droupadi Murmu, Mahatma Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, Rabindranath Tagore, Vande Mataram Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/full-vande-mataram-gets-legal-shield-as-president-gives-assent/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/full-vande-mataram-gets-legal-shield-as-president-gives-assent/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.