Following the government’s decision to name the Navi Mumbai International Airport after D. B. Patil, a late local leader, members of the East Indian community have now urged authorities to rename the domestic terminal of the Mumbai airport in honour of freedom fighter Joseph Baptista, one of the city’s original inhabitants.

Call for Recognition of East Indian Heritage

The East Indian community has drawn parallels between the histories of the two airports. While the Navi Mumbai airport was constructed on land acquired from Agris, Kolis, and other local castes, the Mumbai airport too was built on farmland belonging to East Indians, who are Roman Catholic converts from the same castes.

Community members argue that the contribution of East Indians, who gave up their ancestral land for urban

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