Freedom fighter and activist Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy passed away at 103, at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bengaluru on Wednesday, following a cardiac arrest.
The centenarian who had been admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 treatment was discharged after recovery on May 12. However, he complained of breathlessness on May 25 and was rushed to Jayadeva hospital, where he breathed his last on Wednesday around 1.30 pm.
Born in Harohalli on April 10, 1918, Doreswamy was raised by his grandfather Shamanna. He pursued a bachelor degree in science and was teaching mathematics and physics in a school, before taking the plunge into freedom movement. He participated in the Quit India movement and made small-scale time bombs to disrupt the functioning of the British Raj
Later, Doreswamy collaborated with communist leaders to organise protests at the textile mills (Raja, Minerva and Binny Mills) in Bengaluru in 1943 and was detained by the police. He was imprisoned in the Bengaluru Central Jail from December 18, 1942 and released to December 8, 1943.
Doreswamy established a publication house and book store, Sahitya Mandira, in Bengaluru and moved to Mysore to run a newspaper "Pauravani" belonging to a friend. He was awarded the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for Lifetime Achievement in 2019.
The fighter in him made him launch "Mysore Chalo" agitation in 1947, to pressurise the Maharaja of Mysore, who was reluctant to accede to the Indian Union, to facilitate the political integration of India.
The Gandhian who constantly engaged himself in movements—from Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan Movement to JP Movement to India Against Corruption—also fought against setting up of Kaiga nuclear plant in Uttara Kannada district. He came to be known as the "conscience keeper of Karnataka" even as he continued to support farmers' agitations, and to fight against the land mafia, corruption in Lokayukta office, garbage dumping in water bodies, eviction of tribals in Kodagu and electoral malpractice among others.
The veteran has had his share of controversies too. In March 2020, when he criticised the Narendra Modi government and raised questions over the Sangh Parivar's role in the freedom movement, he was labelled as a "fake freedom fighter", "anti-national" and "Pakistani agent" by BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.
Doreswamy was also under attack from the right-wing activists when he opposed the arrest of 19-year-old student-activist Amulya Leona Noronha on charges of sedition.
In 2014, Doreswamy and activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh (who was killed on September 5, 2017) took the initiative to appeal to the Naxals to give up arms and join the mainstream.
