India’s Parliament has passed a new bill granting Vande Mataram legal status equal to the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, prompting nationwide debate. Published on August 7, 2026, the report says the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 extends legal protection to all six stanzas of Vande Mataram. Intentional insult or disruption of the song could carry imprisonment of up to three years under penalties set out in the 1971 law.

Opposition parties and Muslim organisations say the measure seeks to impose an ideology and interferes with religious freedom. The report cites a 1937 Congress Working Committee decision supporting use of only the first two stanzas, while excluding later verses that invoke Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. It also notes that although President Rajendra Prasad spoke in 1950 of equal status for Vande Mataram, the Constituent Assembly did not adopt all six stanzas.

The report refers to the Supreme Court’s 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel ruling, which held that standing silently during the national anthem was sufficient respect and that refusing to sing was not necessarily disrespect. Courts have treated deliberate and intentional disruption as central under the 1971 law, while silent non-participation has not been considered an offence. Analysts cited in the report argue the new provision could alter that setting.