NEW DELHI: In its first decision after sweeping the Bengal polls, Cabinet Tuesday approved a proposal to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act to 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 provides jail, fine or both for insults to National Flag and Constitution, and for preventing singing of National Anthem. Under the proposal cleared by the Cabinet chaired by PM Modi, Vande Mataram would be added to 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. It currently states that whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or fine, or both.
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Repeat offences attract at least one year jail. During Parliament’s special discussion on the “150th Year of Vande Mataram” in Dec last year, defence minister Rajnath Singh strongly advocated elevating the song’s status to match National Anthem, accusing Congress of historically communalising it and sidelining it due to appeasement politics. The move is politically significant given the cultural and historical resonance of the song, particularly in Bengal, and the prominent place it occupied in India’s freedom movement. Unlike the National Anthem, it has so far not enjoyed explicit legal protection. The song, a rallying cry for freedom fighters, was first published in Bankim Chandra’s 1882 novel Anandmath, inspired by the sanyasi rebellion against the East India Company rule in Bengal. Earlier in Jan, the MHA guidelines outlined conduct concerning Vande Mataram.
