Cabinet okays plan to put Vande Mataram on a par with Jana Gana Mana

NEW DELHI: New Delhi: In its first decision after sweeping the West Bengal polls, Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act which would put National Song, Vande Mataram composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee on the same footing as the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana.

At present, the law with the provision of jail or fine or both are applicable for insults to Indian National Flag and Constitution of India and prevention of Singing of National Anthem. As per the proposal put before the Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi, Vande Mataram would be included in this list making non-compliance of norms a cognisable offence. The country is celebrating the 150th Year of Vande Mataram.

For this, Section-3 of the Act would be amended, which says, “Whoever Intentionally prevents the singing of the Indian National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

Repeat offences attract at least one year jail term. The law was earlier amended in 2005 to expand it to bar acts such as using the National Flag as a portion of costume, uniform or accessory of any description which is worn below the waist, or by embroidering or printing it on cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, undergarments or any dress material.

Going by the procedural drill for fresh amendment to the Act, which is followed before a proposal is put before Cabinet, BJP was confident of the victory in West Bengal, people familiar with the development said.

During the special discussion of Parliament on “150th Year of Vande Mataram” in Dec last year, defence minister Rajnath Singh had strongly advocated for elevating the status of Vande Mataram to match the National Anthem, accusing the Congress party of historically communalising the song and sidelining it due to appeasement politics.

The move is politically significant given the cultural and historical resonance of the song across the country, particularly West Bengal, and the prominent place it occupied in India’s freedom movement. However, unlike the National Anthem, it has so far not enjoyed explicit legal protection under the law.

The song, which became a rallying cry for the freedom fighters in the struggle to liberate India from British rule, was first published in his 1882 novel ‘Anandmath’ inspired by the sanyasi rebellion against British East India Company rule in Bengal.
The BJP has accused the Congress of having disrespected the hymn and adopting only first two stanzas as National Song because of “appeasement politics” and “selective secularism” to respect Muslim sensitivities.

Earlier in Jan, home ministry, in its order, had outlined appropriate conduct and protocols concerning Vande Mataram. The ministry had issued an order that all six stanzas of the official version must be rendered first whenever the National Song and the National Anthem are performed together.

It said that the full six-stanza version is to be sung or played on key state occasions such as the arrival of the President, the unfurling of the National Flag, and addresses by governors, among other formal events.

It should also be played immediately before and after the President addresses the Nation over All India Radio-Akashvani and television, and when the National Flag is brought on parade. The ministry had added that people present at assemblies where the National Song is performed must stand in attention.

While those guidelines stopped short of legal enforcement, they were widely seen as a precursor to stronger legislative backing.