Police on Wednesday arrested Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders and protesters as they marched from Panvel to Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai to demand that the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) be named after late farmer leader Loknaiti Dinkar Balu (DB) Patel. Despite the arrest, the demonstrators continued their march towards Sanpada.
Chief Inspector Bala Kumbhar said permission for the march was denied as prohibitory orders under Section 144 were in force due to the Maharashtra Legislature being in session and a red alert issued due to heavy rains. Several police trucks were deployed.
He added: “Any illegal gathering or march will require legal action.”
The rally was organized by the Loknete DB Patil Airport Naming Action Committee. The march started from the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Panvel. “Let the police do their job. If they arrest us, we will not give up our position,” said Balaram Patel, a former MLC member.
The police stopped the march within minutes of its beginning, arrested many leaders, activists and demonstrators, and escorted them to waiting police cars. The female demonstrators lay on the road and in front of police cars while officers tried to get them out.
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The march comes in the wake of an indefinite hunger strike started by youth activist Rashmita Bobita that reignited the airport naming movement just days before NMIA is scheduled to begin international flight operations on July 15.
“We are organizing a peaceful agitation in the name of DB Patel. Arrest us, but you cannot silence this movement,” Bobita said.
From the police vehicle, Patel urged his supporters not to worry about the detained leaders and continue the peaceful march towards Sanpada.
Bhiwandi MP Suresh “Baliya Mama” Mhatre said that peaceful demonstrations during the Assembly session are a democratic right. He said: “If ordinary citizens are deprived of their right to peacefully protest, this is wrong. There appears to be pressure on the police.”
By late afternoon, after protesters were arrested across Navi Mumbai, organizers announced a temporary suspension of the day’s unrest.
Terming it a tactical halt, Mhatre said the campaign would continue with “greater intensity and determination” until the airport was officially named after DB Patel.
He announced that a planning meeting for the next phase of the movement will be held on July 20.
The demand to name the NMIA after DB Patil has remained one of the most controversial political issues in the region for more than a decade. Although the Maharashtra Cabinet approved the proposal in 2021, it is still awaiting the Centre’s approval.
In May, the Supreme Court refused to direct the Union government to decide the issue within a specific time frame, stating that naming public infrastructure is a matter of executive policy.
Last month, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reiterated that the state had completed all the formalities and was following up on the proposal with the Centre. Protest leaders said Wednesday’s march would mark the beginning of a sustained agitation until the Center formally approves the long-awaited naming proposal.
