Insulting or disrupting the singing of Vande Mataram, India's national song, could soon attract a prison sentence of up to three years. The provision is part of a bill the government plans to introduce during the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. Once enacted, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill will extend the same legal protection to Vande Mataram that is currently granted to the national anthem, the national flag, and the Constitution.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, under which insulting, obstructing, or causing disruptions during the national anthem can result in imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both. Similar penalties also apply to insults directed at the national flag and the Constitution. The amendment proposes to include the national song within the scope of the law.
BJP'S PUSH FOR VANDE MATARAM
The government's move comes during its year-long commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. In recent months, it has increasingly emphasised the national song in official events.
In February this year, the Union Home Ministry instructed states to make the playing or singing of Vande Mataram mandatory at official functions where the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, is performed.
Political observers viewed the decision as a strategic move ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections held in May. Vande Mataram was written by Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and first published in his novel Anandmath seven years later. The BJP went on to secure victory in the Bengal elections, forming its first government in the state.
Earlier this month, the Home Ministry issued another communication to state governments directing that Vande Mataram should be performed before the national anthem whenever both are included in official programmes, according to a report in The Hindu.
The communication to state chief secretaries stated that whenever both the national song and the national anthem are performed, Vande Mataram should be sung or played first.
It also specified that all six stanzas of the national song, with a total duration of approximately 3 minutes and 10 seconds, should be performed. The emphasis on all six stanzas is significant.
In 1937, the Congress, under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, decided to use only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its events after sections of the Muslim community objected to references to Hindu goddesses in the later verses.
'CONGRESS HATES VANDE MATARAM'
The BJP has frequently used this issue to criticise the Congress.
On Friday, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of opposing the proposed legislation, claiming that "Congress and its ecosystem hate Vande Mataram."
Poonawalla alleged that Nehru divided the national song into two parts under pressure from the Muslim League. He further claimed that several Congress leaders refused to sing it even when only the first two stanzas were used.
The issue had also triggered a heated political confrontation between the BJP and the Congress during Parliament's Winter Session last year.
During a discussion on the national song, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Nehru of weakening the legacy of Vande Mataram in the name of appeasement politics. He argued that the omission of the later stanzas had "sowed the seeds of India's division," referring to the Partition of 1947.
Responding to the Prime Minister, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the decision to retain only the first two stanzas had been taken collectively by leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
The issue is expected to resurface when the government introduces the Vande Mataram amendment bill during the upcoming Parliament session. While the BJP maintains that the legislation is intended to formally recognise and protect the national song, the debate is likely to reignite political tensions, setting the stage for a contentious parliamentary session.
