A proposed amendment to the National Honour Insult Prevention law was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, seeking to make it a criminal offence to obstruct the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ or to insult the song, with provisions for imprisonment.
The move comes as the Centre marks 150 years since the composition of ‘Vande Mataram’ by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. The Union Home Ministry has issued directions that the full song be sung at government functions.
According to the instructions, government programmes should include ‘Vande Mataram’ as the national song and ‘Jana Gana Mana’ as the national anthem, both at the beginning and at the end of events.
The amendment bill was introduced by Union Minister of State Nityanand Rai. The stated objective is to accord ‘Vande Mataram’ a status comparable to key national symbols such as the national flag and the national anthem.
Opposition MPs, including John Brittas (CPI(M)) and Santosh Kumar (CPI), objected to the bill in the House.
