NEW DELHI: The [Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026], also known as the Vande Mataram Bill, was formally introduced in the [Rajya Sabha] by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai amid opposition protests.
Insult or obstruct the singing of Vande Mataram, India’s national song, and you may face up to three years in jail. The provision is at the heart of a bill that the government introduced in Parliament on Friday. The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, once passed, will give Vande Mataram the same legal protection as the national anthem, the tricolour and the Constitution.
The bill will amend the 1971 law, according to which insulting, preventing or causing disturbances during the rendition of the national anthem attracts a prison term of up to three years, a fine, or both. Insulting the national flag and the Constitution carries the same punishment. The new bill now brings the national song under its ambit.
The government’s push comes amid its year-long celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the national song. Over the past few months, the government has increasingly sought to appropriate the national song.
Earlier this year in February, the Union Home Ministry, in a direction to states, made playing or singing the national song mandatory at official events where the anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is played.
