Bengaluru, May 26 : Freedom fighter and Social activist H S Doreswamy died due to a cardiac arrest at Jayadeva Hospital here Today.

He was 103 and survived by a son and a daughter.

He had recovered from Covid-19 on May 12 but was hospitalised at the Jayadeva Hospital in the city yesterday as he complained chest pain, he breathed last at 1330 hrs.

The doctor said that he had a pre-existing valvular heart disease for the last 10 years and that he was admitted to Jayadeva Hospital multiple times in this period. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month. “This could be a precipitating factor since he tested positive and was hospitalised till May 12. He was readmitted to the hospital on May 14,”

Born on April 10, 1918, in Harohalli village, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy was brought up by his grandfather, after his parents passed away at the age of five. He joined the freedom struggle at a young age — from planting small scale time bombs in postboxes and in the record rooms of British government officials to burn documents, to organising protests and general strikes in the state of Mysore against the British rule — and actively participated in the freedom struggle including the Quit India movement. He was jailed for 14 months from 1943 to 1944. The Gandhian had also participated in the Mysore Chalo movement to compel the Mysore Maharaja to accede to the Indian State post-independence.



With a Bachelor of Science from the Central College, Bengaluru, Doreswamy was a teacher at a high school and later tried his hand at journalism by bringing out a newspaper called ‘Pauravani.’ Post Independence, in the 1950s, Doreswamy participated in Vinobha Bhave’s Bhoodan movement and also began to fight for the unification of Karnataka. He was actively involved in the Jayaprakash Narayan movement against the Emergency. During the 1980s, he fought for the rights of farmers and other marginalised communities. He was also part of the India Against Corruption movement. Age did not diminish Doreswamy’s spirit, as he stayed active until his final days. He took part in various agitations until the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. In February 2020, at the age of 102, HS Doreswamy sat on a five-day protest in Bengaluru against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Doreswamy ran the publication house Sahitya Mandira and ‘Pauravani’ news paper during the British Rule.

Over the decades, Doreswamy had been a constant figure at various civil rights struggles in Karnataka. He was involved in a number of agitations and committees working against the encroachment of water bodies and dumping of garbage near impoverished areas in and outside Bengaluru. In October 2014, he led an anti-encroachment protest in Bengaluru, demanding implementation of the Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2007 by the state government. He was also involved in agitations against the eviction of adivasis from their tribal lands in Kodagu district.

He had been one of the prominent figures in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC. Before the pandemic began, he had vowed to hold a protest every month against CAA and NRC.

In February 2021, following the detention and arrest of the climate activist Disha Ravi from Bengaluru, Doreswamy shared a message of support for the young activist and asked her “to stay strong”.

He was conferred the Gandhi Seva Award for providing outstanding service to impoverished sections of the society in 2018,Awarded the Basava Puraskara by the Government of Karnataka, 2019 – Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for Lifetime Achievement.

Chief Minister B S Yeddiyurappa, leader of the opposition Siddaramiah, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy cabinet ministers and others have condoled the demise of veteran freedom fighter Doreswamy.(UNI)