Vande Mataram gets same criminal protection as national anthem

Parliament has passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, extending the same criminal law protection to Vande Mataram that the national anthem enjoys. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 24 and cleared both Houses within a week, with Opposition parties including the DMK and Congress objecting to the lack of debate and the timing. The amendment substitutes Section 3 of the 1971 Act to punish intentionally preventing the singing of, or causing disturbance to, the singing of both the national anthem and the national song, with up to three years' imprisonment and a mandatory minimum one year for repeat offenders.

The amendment does not specify which stanzas of Vande Mataram must be sung for protection to apply. The Constituent Assembly in 1950 had deliberately kept the later devotional stanzas out of civic life, following a 1937 Congress compromise to sing only the first two stanzas at official gatherings. The statute does not compel anyone to sing or prescribe a mandatory version, only penalises disruption of a rendition that is occurring.

The speed of passage meant the Bill received minimal parliamentary scrutiny, despite touching on religious sentiment, free expression and criminal liability. The government had since late 2025 pushed to popularise all six stanzas at official functions, but the text of the law is narrower than the political messaging.