H. S. Doreswamy

Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy (10 April 1918 – 26 May 2021) was an Indian journalist and activist. He was a member of the Indian independence movement, and became a centenarian in April 2018. He ran the publication house of Sahitya Mandira and the Indian nationalist newspaper Pauravani during the British Raj and the period afterwards.

Early life and education Doreswamy was born in the village of Harohalli, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, a princely state of the British Indian Empire. He was raised by his grandfather Shamanna after his father died when he was five years old.

Independence movement After finishing his education in June 1942, he began teaching mathematics and physics at a high school in Bangalore. In August, when the Quit India Movement had begun, he became involved in setting up small scale time bombs in postboxes and record rooms to burn official documents as a method adopted to disrupt the functioning of the British Raj. He along with some associates also became involved in organising protests and general strikes in Mysore State. He collaborated with N.D. Shankar, a freedom fighter and communist union leader in organising a 14 day general strike at three textile mills, namely Raja, Minerva and Binny Mills, which saw the participation of 8,000 workers. Subsequently, there were strikes in various factories and mills across the region over the following 3 to 30 days. He also formed associations with A.G. Ramachandra Rao and Sardar Venkataramaiah who were underground at the time.

In 1943, one of his bomb suppliers, namely Ramachandra got caught by the police with time bombs in his possession who named Doreswamy as a contact. Following which, he was arrested and put under indefinite detention in Bangalore Central Jail (Freedom Park). In 1947, during the Political integration of India, the Maharaja of Mysore was reluctant to accede to the Indian Union, which resulted in the "Mysore Chalo" movement to pressurize the maharaja into acceding. Due to the movement, congress leaders were arrested and press freedom was curbed by the Kingdom of Mysore. Doreswamy among other journalists are noted to have continued publishing their newspapers from undisclosed locations. The Pauravani, which was operating as an Indian nationalist newspaper was being published from the city of Hindupur, Madras State situated at the border of the Kingdom of Mysore. In an interview, Doreswamy stated that a teacher named Sheshagiri assisted him in circulating the newspaper at the time. He also stated that literary figures like R.K. Narayan and K.S. Narasimhaswamy were frequent visitors at his book store during and after the independence movement.

Post-independence activities During the 1950s, Doreswamy participated in the Bhoodan movement and the movement for the Unification of Karnataka. He was jailed for four months in 1975 after he sent a letter to Indira Gandhi threatening to launch an agitation against her for "acting like a dictator" during the Emergency in India. In 2016, he launched a 24/7 dharna (picketing) outside the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha when sessions were being held in the legislative assembly in Belgaum demanding the grant of land to the landless in the state which forced the Chief minister, Siddaramaiah to personally give him assurances that the promise will be kept. He was also involved in agitations against the eviction of adivasis from their tribal lands in Kodagu district. According to him, the country's democracy was being threatened by the government of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and that the situation created by them is becoming similar to that created by the British Raj. In response, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had attacked him by alleging that he was a Pakistani agent and an "anti national". The party justified the attacks stating that he had done the unthinkable by criticising the prime minister, Narendra Modi. Doreswamy died on 26 May 2021 due to cardiac arrest.

Awards 2017 – Conferred the Gandhi Seva Award for providing outstanding service to impoverished sections of the society by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. 2018 – Awarded the Basava Puraskara by the Government of Karnataka through the release of 2018 national awardees list. 2019 – Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for Lifetime Achievement.