A bill making it a criminal offence to insult 'Vande Mataram', India's National Song, was passed by both Houses of Parliament this week — putting it on the same legal footing as the National Anthem.
The Rajya Sabha (Upper House) passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved it for consideration.
Penalties on disrespectThe existing law penalises intentional disrespect towards the National Flag, the Constitution and the National Anthem.
The order directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung first whenever the song is played alongside the National Anthem at official functions.
Vande Mataram, which later became the National Song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who later included it in his novel 'Anandamath'.
A bill making it a criminal offence to insult 'Vande Mataram', India's National Song, was passed by both Houses of Parliament this week — putting it on the same legal footing as the National Anthem.
The Rajya Sabha (Upper House) passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved it for consideration. The Lok Sabha (Lower House) followed suit on Thursday, clearing the bill despite noisy protests from opposition members demanding accountability over police action against Neet protestors.
The amendment extends the same statutory protections currently given to the National Anthem to the National Song, with penalties of up to three years' imprisonment for insulting it.
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Penalties on disrespect
The existing law penalises intentional disrespect towards the National Flag, the Constitution and the National Anthem. The penalty for disrespecting these three is up to three years imprisonment, a fine, or both, with repeat offenders facing at least one year in prison.
Now, the new amendment extends these protections to the National Song.
The legislation also follows a Home Ministry order issued in January. The order directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung first whenever the song is played alongside the National Anthem at official functions.
Why now?
This Bill is coming as the nation marks 150 years since the inception of the iconic song. Vande Mataram, which later became the National Song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who later included it in his novel 'Anandamath'.
This also follows an order issued by the Home Ministry in January that directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung first whenever it is played alongside the National Anthem at official functions.
