An avowed “nationalist” whose news portal has been accused of peddling fake news to discredit the BJP’s critics appeared disconcerted on Friday when three women activists asked him to sing Vande Mataram at Mangalore airport.

Post Card News co-founder Mahesh Vikram Hegde, known for haranguing “anti-nationals”, stayed as silent through the grilling as TV anchor Arnab Goswami seemed to be in the video of comedian Kunal Kamra’s confrontation with him on a plane.

“You say you are a nationalist…. We know you don’t know Vande Mataram,” Congress spokesperson Kavitha Reddy, who was with student activists Najma Nazeer and Amulya Leona, said as Hegde only managed a weak smile.

The women also asked Hegde to sing Saare Jahan Se Achchha and the Karnataka state song Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Thanujathe, but these challenges were met with silence too.

Hegde later told The Telegraph he had a reason to stay mum. “They asked me to sing Vande Mataram, Saare Jahan Se Achchha and our naada geete (state song). For me that was not the place to sing,” he said.

“They should have known that anyone who has been to an RSS shakha would definitely know how to sing Vande Mataram,” he added, revealing a biographical detail.

Kavitha confronts Hegde at the airport (Source: The video clip)

The women were returning to Bangalore from an anti-citizenship-act protest in Udupi and spotted Hegde in the departure lounge of Mangalore airport.

“We decided to confront him. I was anyway waiting to see a BJP spokesperson to ask why they spread hatred,” Kavitha told this newspaper.

“He has contributed as much as Arnab Goswami in generating hatred in the country. Yet, he doesn’t know Vande Mataram,” Najma said.

A video clip circulating on social media shows the women taking turns to ask Hegde to sing Vande Mataram in a mix of English and Kannada while their silent quarry has a plastic smile pasted on his face.

“Will you please sing Vande Mataram for the country?” Najma asks.

“Vikram, it’s the best opportunity for you. Don’t you post all kinds of stuff on Post Card?” Kavitha says.

“You are silent like Arnab Goswami,” Amulya quips.

Kavitha then abruptly asks: “Do you know what time (Nathuram) Godse killed (Mahatma) Gandhi?”

In a second video clip that Kavitha shared with this newspaper, the women are continuing to prod Hegde to sing Vande Mataram. At one point he breaks into what seems forced laughter. But the women are relentless.

“If you don’t know (Vande Mataram) please sing Saare Jahan Se Achchha. If not, sing Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Thanujathe,” Najma has a go.

Kavitha persists: “Come on, Vikram. Don’t miss this opportunity. We are trying to make a hero out of a zero. Come on!”

A third clip, also shared by Kavitha, shows the women turning the screws. “You are sitting quiet since you know you are committing a mistake. You are dividing the country with your Post Card News,” Kavitha says.

“That boy who shot at Jamia (Millia Islamia) protesters (in Delhi on Thursday) is the work of people like you…. You say you are a nationalist, sing Vande Mataram with me. We know you don’t know Vande Mataram, but you just provoke everyone.”

The grilling is interrupted as a fan approaches Hegde for a selfie, and the video ends.

Hegde had spent two weeks in jail custody over a piece of alleged fake news in March 2018 and is out on bail. He was accused of twisting a minor road accident involving a Jain monk, who was hit by a motorcycle, and reporting it as an attack by a Muslim man.

Hegde also faces a defamation suit filed by actor Prakash Raj over articles published on his personal life.

A flight delay had forced the women to shift their trip from Thursday night to Friday, making the confrontation with Hegde possible, Kavitha said.