DH Radio | The Lead: The voice of 103-year-old freedom fighter H S Doreswamy

In this episode of The Lead from DH Radio, listen to what freedom fighter H S Doreswamy has to say about the country as India celebrates its 74th Independence Day.

Dear listener,

It's August the 15 and we at Deccan Herald wish you a Happy Independence Day.

India as a country has come to be 73 years old. Today in DH Radio, we are joined by a man who is called the conscience of Karnataka, at 103 he is still going strong. He is none other than a freedom fighter, Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy.

DH's S R Ramakrishna spoke to Doreswamy and here are the excerpts:

Doreswamy: The Congress fought for freedom under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. It promised to eradicate poverty immediately after gaining Independence. More than 72 years have gone by, but still, income disparity is high. People are suffering a lot.

Now, with a new law, the (Karnataka) government is out to allow the industrialists and the rich to buy agricultural land without any restrictions. In Devaraj Urs' time, land reform laws were passed, and land was handed over to the tiller. Unfortunately, the disparity remained: even after the redistribution, the landlords owned huge tracts of land. There should be a ceiling.

Now, we are going in for privatisation. We are hungry for foreign investment. There should be a limit to this exercise. We should take help from foreigners only in areas where we have no expertise. We should not give away everything to foreigners. The government isn't thinking beyond investment and profit.

When the steel factory (in Bhadravati) fell on bad days, (legendary engineer) Visvesvaraya requested the Maharaja (of Mysore) to make him the chairman. He brought four or five people from America and told them they would get the salary they ask for, but they would have to share their know-how with our people and leave after four or five years. This must be the vision. As for the information technology and software sector, it is bringing in a lot by way of taxes. Someone should tell us whether it is good for us or bad for us. But what is happening is lop-sided development.

The government is using the pandemic to do many things under its shadows. It is subverting the Constitution. The Hindutva brigade is dividing people, and is on the path of destroying the country. This should be arrested.

I was planning to organise 500 Muslims and 500 Hindus for a 'jail bharo' programme next year. That is the reason politicians started defaming me. There should be a change before the 2024 elections. I am 103, and I don't know if I can do it but it should be done.

The Congress is in a pathetic shape. If the Gandhi family is leading it, they should do it seriously. There are other competent people, and they can be given the authority. The problem is, they do everything from Delhi. Nehru used to visit every state once a year, stay there, and interact with everyone in the region. It's not the same Congress. The defeated Congress should stand up once again.

I have hope in journalism. It should educate people about basic things. We take things for granted. People are not aware of many things. Like we used to in our time, journalism should organise people. We should educate voters on how to vote. After this government came to power, on some pretext or the other, many journalists have been killed.

The pandemic has affected migrant labourers badly, and they will come back to the cities. They need help. The government has done a good job of giving rations to the poor, but I fear about what might happen after October-November, when the supplies will stop. I request the government to look into this.

We should ban politics done on the basis of religion. It is fine for Pakistan, a theocratic state. We have a Constitution that gives equal rights to all. We should go by the rule of law, and not by the whims and fancies of people in power. Institutions have been destroyed.

How do we become self-dependent? We must do the manufacturing. If we take up research and development in all areas, we can achieve development.