Cabinet approves amendment to make insulting Vande Mataram a punishable offense & more related news here

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) gave the green light to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, 1971 to make any insult or obstruction to the singing of the National Song. Vande Mataram a punishable offense, a government source said The Hindu.

Currently, insults to the National Anthem Jana Gains ManaThe National Flag and Constitution of India are mentioned in the 1971 Act and is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years, fine or both.

Section 3 of the Act states that “whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the Indian National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly participating in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

The Cabinet decision comes a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory in West Bengal, winning 207 of the 293 contested Assembly seats and was all set to form the government for the first time in the state.

Vande MataramIndia’s greeting imagined as a mother was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published with his novel Anandamath in the early 1880s. In 1937, the leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC), which was leading the national movement, decided to use the first two stanzas in their meetings, and the Constitution of the modern Republic of India granted it the status of National Song. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress Party of truncating the song to appease the Muslim League during British rule.

On February 6, the Union Home Ministry, in a series of instructions to States and other government agencies, said that the six stanzas of Vande Mataramwhich lasts just over three minutes, must be sung or played at official events. He said priority should be given to the National Song over the National Anthem, written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore, when both songs are played at an event.

The MHA guidelines on Vande Mataram They are advisory in nature and do not have legal support. The Cabinet’s decision to amend the 1971 Act would make any insult to the National Song a punishable offence.