Parliament approves bill to grant Vande Mataram same status as Jana Gana Mana
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was approved by the Lok Sabha by voice vote after a very short discussion where only two members spoke
Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that makes any insult to the national song Vande Mataram a punishable offence, with Lok Sabha clearing the legislation amid din, a day when the House also saw frequent disruptions due to unrelenting protests and sloganeering by the opposition over various issues.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was approved by the Lok Sabha by voice vote after a very short discussion where only two members spoke.
The bill was approved by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The legislation will also grant status to Vande Mataram on par with national anthem Jana Gana Mana once it is assented by President Droupadi Murmu.
Responding to a brief debate in the Lower House, Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai said the Congress should have given Vande Mataram its due respect during its 76 years of rule, but instead it resorted to appeasement politics.
The Narendra Modi government is now giving the national song the respect it deserves, he said.
"For Ek Bharat, Shreshtra Bharat, we need complete (all six stanzas) Vande Mataram song," Rai said, as he concluded his brief reply to the bill with a chant of Vande Mataram.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act currently prohibits intentionally preventing the singing of the national anthem (Jana Gana Mana), or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing.
These offences are punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine or both. A second and every subsequent conviction is punishable with imprisonment of a minimum of one year.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, extends these provisions to the national song (Vande Mataram).
The amendments moved by the Opposition were rejected by the House. A Raja of the DMK later tore some document and threw it towards the Well.
Earlier, DMK member K Kanimozhi opposed the bill, saying it is a "Hindutva agenda" masquerading as nationalism.
"It is against federalism. You cannot impose nationalism by bringing a law, the song goes against the secularism of the country. The founding fathers had the wisdom to stop only with 2 stanzas, but today you are trying to polarise the country by making it compulsory and making it a criminal offence if we do not sing all the 6 stanzas," she said.
Sambit Patra of the BJP said the Congress in its 76 years of rule did not give Vande Mataram the respect it deserved as a national song.
Amid sloganeering after the passage of the bill, Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
This bill is the first legislation to be passed by both houses of Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session which has seen frequent disruptions by the opposition, mainly over the NEET paper leak issue.
Earlier, when the House assembled at 11 am for the day, opposition members started the protests, shouting slogans, over various issues.
Speaker Om Birla urged the members to let the Question Hour continue, but faced with an unbudging Opposition, he adjourned the House till 2 pm.
When the House reassembled at 2 pm, opposition protests continued, forcing the chair to adjourn the House till 3 pm.
Immediately after the House convened at 3 pm, the Opposition started sloganeering. The chair, Sandhya Ray, requested the opposition MPs to take their seats, but as sloganeering continued, she adjourned the House till 3.30 pm -- the third time during the day.
When the House again met at 3.30 pm, it took up discussion on the bill. After the bill was passed, the House was adjourned for the day.
