New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to make the deliberate insult of the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’ a punishable offence on par with existing provisions for the National Anthem and other national symbols.
The Bill was passed after a heated debate.
Opposition members created a din during the discussion and later walked out of the House in protest.
Several members from both sides had spoken on the legislation before Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai replied.
Members, including John Brittas of CPI(M), Pramod Tiwari of Congress and other members raised points of order, but Deputy Chairman Harvansh Narayan Singh did not allow them as “the House was not in order”.
The Opposition members continued demanding the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They kept on sloganeering, which drowned out the voices of members.
Sanjay Singh of APP opposed the Bill and said the Bill was moved by a party whose parent organisation had not hoisted or unfurled the National flag at its headquarters.
In his reply, Rai said every amendment is not merely a legislative change but represents the country’s collective commitment to India’s soul, national consciousness, cultural ethos and the ideals of the freedom struggle.
He recalled that the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act was enacted in 1971 to protect national symbols. The present amendment aims to extend the same protection to “Vande Mataram”.
Rai traced the historical significance of the song composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875. He noted that Rabindranath Tagore had sung it at the 1896 Congress session and that Sarala Devi Chaudhurani had rendered the full version in Varanasi in 1905.
He criticised the decision in 1937 under Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress presidency to restrict the song to two stanzas, while highlighting Subhash Chandra Bose’s efforts in 1938 to have a complete musical arrangement prepared.
Rai also referred to the full rendition broadcast on All India Radio on Independence Day in 1947 at the initiative of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and to Dr Rajendra Prasad’s statement in the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950, according equal status to Vande Mataram and the National Anthem.
The Minister said opposition to the Bill amounted to disregarding the views of national leaders and amounted to appeasement. He recalled that freedom fighters, including Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Khudiram Bose, had chanted Vande Mataram in their final moments.
Opposing the song, he argued, boosted the morale of those who raised slogans seeking the fragmentation of India.
Rai linked the Bill to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ and said the complete Vande Mataram was essential for national unity.
He described the legislation as a measure that transcends politics and is guided by Home Minister Amit Shah, reflecting the sentiments of the people of India.
After the debate and the opposition walkout, the Bill was passed by the Upper House.
Earlier, when the House was assembled after multiple adjournments, the Deputy Chairman asked members to maintain order and urged them to speak only on the Bill.
Members, including Tiruchi Siva of DMK (Tamil Nadu); Radhamohan Das Agrawal, BJP (Uttar Pradesh); Golababu Rao of YSRCP (Andhra Pradesh); Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD (Bihar); Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju, BRS (Telangana); Vijay Chintakala, TDP (Andhra Pradesh); Mayank Kumar Nayak, BJP (Gujarat); Dr Jyoti Nagnath Baghmare, Shivsena (Maharashtra); Sulata Deo, BJD (Odisha); Ashok Kumar Mittal, BJP (Punjab); M. Thambidurai, AIDMK (Tamil Nadu); and Ramdas Bandu Athawle, Minister of State for Social Justice spoke on the Bill.
(IANS)
