Karnataka freedom fighter HS Doreswamy passes away at 103

Bengaluru: HS Doreswamy Gandhian passed away at 1:30 pm on Wednesday at a Bengaluru hospital. He was one of Karnataka’s last links to the freedom struggle and an inspiration to generations of civil rights activists. He was 103 years old.

Doreswamy was found to be Covid positive on May 6 and was admitted to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research for almost a week. On May 14, he was readmitted due to breathing problems and fatigue. Dr CN Manjunath, director of the hospital said, “The cause of death is severe vascular heart disease, a heart failure. The precipitating factors could be Covid-19 and age.”

He said, “He had pre-existing heart disease for over 10 years and suffered from leakage of the left side valve. He had chronic obstructive lung disease, for which he was undergoing treatment at our hospital for more than a decade.”

Doctors said that Doreswamy was in the hospital more than a dozen time in the past 7-8 years, but this time he was very philosophical. Dr Manjunath said, “He was saying, ‘Why should I occupy this bed and let youngsters not be treated? I have lived enough. Why (do you) waste medicines on me?’ This time he appeared to have dropped his willpower to recover.”

He firmly believed in democracy and never let go of a chance to exercise his franchise. He has a son and a daughter. His wife Lalithamma passed away in December 2019.

He is known for his active participation in the Quit India movement and his activism continued even after the country got independence. He was sent to jail for 14 months from 1943-1944. He was at the forefront of the ‘Mysuru Chalo’ movement in 1947 to reinstall a democratic, responsible state government. He compelled the Mysuru Maharaja to accede to the Indian state, after independence. He also took part in the Karnataka unification movement and was part of the agitation during the Emergency. Lately, he supported India Against Corruption movement.

He was cremated in Chamarajpet with state honours. He wanted to give away his body for research but it remained unfulfilled because of Covid reasons.