Three women ask Postcard News editor Mahesh Vikram Hegde to sing Vande Mataram at Mangaluru airport

The incident comes days after stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra heckled Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami on a flight.

A video of three women, including a Congress spokesperson from the State, urging Mahesh Vikram Hegde, co-founder and editor of portal Postcard News, to sing Vande Mataram at the Mangaluru airport on January 31 morning was shared widely on social media. Mr. Hegde is seen remaining silent through the incident. No complaint was filed on the incident.

Mr. Hegde has been arrested twice on the charge of publishing and circulating fake news through his portal.

The incident comes days after stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra heckled Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami on a flight.

Congress spokesperson Kavita Reddy and two students were at Mangaluru International Airport to return to Bengaluru on January 31 morning when they found Mr. Hegde in the lobby. “BJP supporters have forced multiple people to sing Vande Mataram, as a test of their patriotism. Mr. Hegde as the editor of Postcard News has been at the forefront of spreading fake news that is communally instigating. I wanted to confront him for a long time. We did it when we met him,” said Ms. Reddy in their defence. “We neither criticised him nor heckled him. We only requested him to sing Vande Mataram and we did sing the song, but he remained silent,” she said.