Senior Congress chief Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday slammed the Centre for making it necessary to sing the Nationwide Track in full, along with the Nationwide Anthem, at first and ending of any official operate, and mentioned the intent of the amended regulation to advertise better respect for Vande Mataram might not be achieved.
Tharoor famous that President Droupadi Murmu has assented to the Vande Mataram modification, handed with out dialogue in Parliament, which requires the singing of the Nationwide Track in full at first and ending of any official operate, along with the Nationwide Anthem.
“As one who drastically respects each, and might sing the primary two stanzas of the previous (however not the opposite 4, which have been by no means required until now) in addition to the whole anthem, I wish to level to only one sensible consideration our zealots seem to have ignored: human nature,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram mentioned.
‘Jana Gana Mana’ requires audiences to face respectfully and focus their consideration for an affordable 52 seconds, he identified.
“The Nationwide Track in full takes 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Tamil Nadu has simply determined that each will likely be preceded by the State Track in Tamil for an additional 2 minutes. Do we actually anticipate audiences to face nonetheless and respectfully for six minutes earlier than and after each operate, a complete of 12 further minutes? Can respect and endurance be legislated?” Tharoor mentioned on X.
“I worry that the intent of the Invoice, to advertise better respect for the Nationwide Track, is not going to be achieved, however its reverse could be….,” the Congress chief added.
President Murmu has given formal assent to the Prevention of Insults to Nationwide Honour (Modification) Invoice, extending equal statutory penal safety to Vande Mataram, alongside the Nationwide Anthem.
The Parliament final month handed the Invoice that makes any insult to the nationwide track Vande Mataram a punishable offence with Lok Sabha clearing the laws amid din.
The federal government asserted that The Prevention of Insults to Nationwide Honour (Modification) Invoice, 2026, will grant standing to Vande Mataram on par with nationwide anthem Jana Gana Mana. It seeks to make any insult to Vande Mataram a felony offence.
The Prevention of Insults to Nationwide Honour Act presently prohibited deliberately stopping the singing of the nationwide anthem (Jana Gana Mana), or inflicting disturbance to any meeting engaged in such singing.
These offences are punishable with imprisonment as much as three years, a high-quality or each. A second and each subsequent conviction is punishable with imprisonment of a minimal of 1 12 months.
The Prevention of Insults to Nationwide Honour (Modification) Invoice, 2026, extends these provisions to the nationwide track (Vande Mataram).
