The Rajya Sabha has passed a bill that will make insults to the national song, Vande Mataram, a criminal offense, bringing it under the purview of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. This move aligns with the ongoing year-long celebration of Vande Mataram's 150th anniversary, which started in November 2025. The new law amends the existing Act of 1971 to provide Vande Mataram with the same legal safeguards as the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Previously, there was no specific legal provision to prevent disturbances or insults to the singing of the national song. The bill aims to penalize anyone intentionally preventing the singing of Vande Mataram or causing disruption to assemblies engaged in its rendition. This development is in line with a recent Union Home Ministry order that mandates the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram at official functions, prioritizing it before the national anthem and requiring attendees to stand in attention.

The Rajya Sabha has passed a bill that will make insults to the national song, Vande Mataram, a criminal offense, bringing it under the purview of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. This move aligns with the ongoing year-long celebration of Vande Mataram's 150th anniversary, which started in November 2025. The new law amends the existing Act of 1971 to provide Vande Mataram with the same legal safeguards as the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Previously, there was no specific legal provision to prevent disturbances or insults to the singing of the national song. The bill aims to penalize anyone intentionally preventing the singing of Vande Mataram or causing disruption to assemblies engaged in its rendition. This development is in line with a recent Union Home Ministry order that mandates the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram at official functions, prioritizing it before the national anthem and requiring attendees to stand in attention.

The Rajya Sabha has passed a bill that will make insults to the national song, Vande Mataram, a criminal offense, bringing it under the purview of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. This move aligns with the ongoing year-long celebration of Vande Mataram's 150th anniversary, which started in November 2025. The new law amends the existing Act of 1971 to provide Vande Mataram with the same legal safeguards as the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Previously, there was no specific legal provision to prevent disturbances or insults to the singing of the national song. The bill aims to penalize anyone intentionally preventing the singing of Vande Mataram or causing disruption to assemblies engaged in its rendition. This development is in line with a recent Union Home Ministry order that mandates the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram at official functions, prioritizing it before the national anthem and requiring attendees to stand in attention.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday cleared a bill making insults to Vande Mataram a criminal offence. Now the national song will come under the ambit of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

This comes during the year-long celebration of 150 years of the national song, Vande Mataram (I bow to thee, Mother), written and composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The celebration began in November 7, 2025, and will continue till November 7, 2026.

When the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, was adopted on January 24, 1950, the President of the Constituent Assembly remarked that Vande Mataram "shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it." But the Constituent Assembly did not pass any formal resolution regarding the national song.

The new bill will amend The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. The proposed law criminalises intentional disruption or prevention of the singing of Vande Mataram, bestowing it the same legal protection accorded to the national anthem.

"Presently, there is no specific legal provision to prevent insults to the singing of 'Vande Mataram', which is honoured as the national song. Therefore, in order to prohibit any person from intentionally preventing the singing of the national song or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing, it is proposed to amend Section 3 of the said Act to include the national song also within its ambit, so as to make such acts punishable," the bill said.

This comes in the backdrop of the Union Home Ministry's order dated January 28, which directed all six stanzas of Vande Mataram shall be sung at official functions such as the arrival of the President, unfurling of the national flag, and speeches of governors.

"When the national song and the national anthem are sung or played, the national song will be sung or played first," the order read, adding that the assembly where the national song is sung shall stand in attention.

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