Centre to Introduce Bill Criminalising Insults to National Song Vande Mataram

The central government is set to introduce the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, July 20, 2026. The bill proposes to extend statutory protection to the national song 'Vande Mataram', making any act of disrespect or obstruction in its singing a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment of up to three years.

The legislation seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which currently penalises insults to the national flag, the Constitution, and the national anthem. The proposed amendment would add 'Vande Mataram' to the list of protected symbols under Section 3 of the Act.

The bill, circulated among Rajya Sabha members ahead of its introduction, states that during the Constituent Assembly meeting on January 24, 1950, President Dr. Rajendra Prasad declared that 'Vande Mataram', composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, played a historic role in India's freedom struggle and should be honoured equally with 'Jana-Gana-Mana'. The bill notes that there is currently no specific legal provision to prevent insults to the singing of the national song, and therefore, the amendment is necessary to prohibit intentional prevention of singing or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing.

However, the move has drawn criticism from CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, who has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging withdrawal of the bill. In his letter, Brittas argues that the proposed amendment departs from the constitutional settlement that has governed the status of the national anthem and national song since independence. He contends that Dr. Rajendra Prasad's statement was not a formal resolution of the Constituent Assembly and that the Assembly consciously refrained from placing the two songs on identical legal footing.

Brittas further points out that when the 1971 Act was enacted, Parliament intentionally restricted Section 3 to the national anthem alone. He says that if Parliament had understood Dr. Prasad's statement as conferring complete legal parity, it would have included both songs in the original Act. The omission, he asserts, reflected Parliament's deliberate legislative policy that only the national anthem warranted statutory penal protection.

The government's decision comes during year-long celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's birth. The bill is expected to be debated in the Rajya Sabha amid opposition from several parties who view it as an unnecessary expansion of criminal liability.