A Statute for the National Song: The Bill to Penalise Insults to Vande Mataram
UPSC-standard MCQs with explanations, trap analysis, and approach guide. Answer after the test — not before.
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Article summary
The Union government has signalled its intent to introduce a Bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament (beginning 20 July 2026) that would make insults to Vande Mataram, India's national song, a punishable offence. At present India's national song enjoys no statutory protection: the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 shields only the National Flag, the Constitution and the National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana), while Article 51A(a) of the Constitution imposes a fundamental duty to respect the Flag and the Anthem — but not Vande Mataram. The song, composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his 1882 novel Anandamath, was granted 'equal status' with the National Anthem by a statement of Constituent Assembly President Rajendra Prasad on 24 January 1950, yet that status has always been political and moral rather than legal. A penal statute would therefore create a new category of protected national symbol and immediately raise the tension between such protection and the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). For UPSC aspirants this is a textbook intersection of fundamental rights, fundamental duties, reasonable restrictions and the history of national symbols.
What this tests
Sample questions — answers revealed after test
Q1. With reference to the National Anthem and the National Song of India, which one of the following statements is correct?
Q2. Schoolchildren stand up respectfully when the National Anthem is sung in assembly but decline to join in, on grounds of religious conscience, and are expelled for it. On the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986), which one of the following best states the legal position?
Q3. Consider the following statements bearing on a proposed offence of insulting the National Song: 1. Freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) may be restricted only on the grounds enumerated in Article 19(2), and any such restriction must additionally be reasonable. 2. The Fundamental Duty in Article 51A(a) was inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. 3. The National Song, like the National Anthem, has a prescribed code of conduct and a fixed duration for its rendition. Which of the statements given above are correct?