New Delhi: For the first time in Parliament’s history, the national song “Vande Mataram” was played as the House proceedings began on Thursday.
On the last day of Parliament’s monsoon session yesterday, as the House proceedings began, six stanzas of the song Vande Mataram were played. At that time, all members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, stood up and paid respect to the national song. This historic event took place in Parliament as a new law providing legal protection to the national song came into effect.
Under this new law, which grants Vande Mataram a legal status equivalent to the national anthem, deliberately preventing or disrupting the national song is a punishable offense. Previously, in a government order issued by the Union Home Ministry, guidelines had been laid down stating that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram should be played during the President’s visit, the hoisting of the national flag, and the Governors’ addresses.
Following the singing of the national anthem, both Houses of Parliament — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — were adjourned sine die amid fierce uproar from the opposition parties. Normally, on the final day of a session, Speaker Om Birla reads the concluding address on the session’s proceedings, but he did not do so this time.
Since Parliament convened on July 20, the proceedings of both Houses had been repeatedly stalled over allegations related to the NEET exam question paper leak and irregularities in donations to the Ram temple.
