Centenarian freedom fighter who spoke truth to power
BENGALURU: Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy was 24 years old and just taken up a new job as a schoolteacher when he was first arrested and imprisoned for 17 months for organising strikes against the British government.
His second visit to prison was at the age of 57 when he took on then prime minister Indira Gandhi during the emergency.
Doreswamy has never held any political position and was the driving force behind several people’s movements in the state of Karnataka, often leading from the front, even at the age of 102.
The man, known as the conscience keeper of Karnataka, as someone who always spoke for the people, regardless of the party in power, passed away at the age of 103 on Wednesday following a cardiac arrest, just days after recovering from Covid-19. His mortal remains will be cremated with state honours, said the Karnataka government.
Born on April 10, 1918, in Harohalli village in the then princely state of Mysore, Doreswamy was raised by his grandfather and his mother as his father died when he was five years old.
He was first drawn towards the radical movement against the British government. With help of a friend, he began planting bombs in government offices and postal boxes. “Our aim was not to harm anyone, but we wanted to disrupt the government machinery,” he told HT during an interview on February 18.
His life took a turn in 1936 when Mahatma Gandhi came visiting. Doreswamy met him at Nandi hills where the father of the nation was staying -- a rest cure to recover from a spot of high blood pressure. After the meeting, Doreswamy became a follower of Gandhi.
Six years later, he was at the forefront of the Quit India movement in the state. “During the Quit India Movement, I helped organise a strike by all major cloth mills in the city -- Binny Mills, Minerva Mills and Raja Mills, especially since they were stitching parachute cloth, used by the British in the Air Force during the war,” he recounts in his memoir “Nenapina Suruli Teredaga”, which translates as memories unravelled.
He was jailed for 17 months between December 1942-May 1944 for this, but for Doreswamy, jail was a learning experience.