NEW DELHI, August 13: Even the British would not have treated them this way. Invited to the Capital for the golden jubilee celebrations of India's Independence, 70-odd freedom fighters from Andhra Pradesh have been packed into two dingy, unfurnished halls of a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) community centre in Delhi's Khan Market.

``We had then fought for dignity, freedom and shelter. Even today we seem to be fighting for the same,'' says Srinivas Iyengar. The 95-year-old Iyengar is among the freedom fighters who are here to attend the March of the Nation tomorrow. ``We are being treated as cattle. If I had an inkling that this was how it was going to be then I would have never come here,'' he says. A stalwart of the freedom movement in Andhra Pradesh, Iyengar was in jail from 1940 to 1943 along with leaders such as VV Giri and C Rajagopalachari.

There are no beds and the veteran freedom fighters are forced to sleep on the floor. There are only two toilets for the 70-odd people. Stunned at the shoddy arrangements made for them, the freedom fighters, most of them above 80, had even sought the Andhra Pradesh State Culture Department to let them stay in a hotel. ``We are ready to pay for our own stay, as long as we have some basic amenities. But the authorities refused saying that if we are dispersed all around the Capital, it would be difficult for the buses to pick us up for the march,'' says Iyengar.

Only a few of the freedom fighters are put up at AP Bhawan in the Capital. According to sources in AP Bhawan, of the 64 rooms available, the Chief Minster, Governor and accompanying officials have occupied 30 rooms, around 20 rooms are with MLAs and MPs, and only 12 rooms are available for freedom fighters.

The callous attitude of the officials was evident even at the New Freedom Delhi railway station when the trains carrying the freedom fighters arrived. The elders who were expecting a warm welcome from the generations they had set free were in for a rude shock when no one turned up to receive the Andhra contingent. In contrast, the contingent from Tamil Nadu, which arrived by the same train, was thanked for arriving, felicitated and taken to the guest houses in chartered buses.

Struggling with the thin bedspreads, many of them suffer from joint aches and arthritis, they are contemplating leaving half-way through the trip. Says 91-year-old S Narayana: ``Officials from other States helped us at the station. We would have been so completely lost, because our own culture department officials and even the doctor, who was supposed to escort us are missing.'' In 1932, Satyanarayana was jailed with Mahatma Gandhi in Yerawada jail and had shared his cell with YB Chavan. He had been imprisoned thrice for defying British orders.

Says 75-year-old C Lingayya: ``There was no one at the railway station to tell us where we are supposed to go and how. We somehow got to AP Bhawan. After waiting there for two hours in confusion, we were packed off to this community centre.'' He had spent more than an year in various jails during the Quit India movement.

Having done without any food since morning, the octogenarians had to go looking for lunch. ``They were serving us some food, which I could not really think of having,'' says Ganga Reddy, who spent a year in prison during the movement for integration of Andhra Pradesh into the Indian union.

S Rajyalaxmi, 83, one of the first women activists from Andhra Pradesh, is also bitter about the treatment by the officials. ``I have seen a lot of tough times, these seem to be just part of them. This is very similar to the times when I was underground and had to live with bare minimum. Surprising, however, how little we have achieved by all those sacrifices,'' she says.

Seetharamaswamy was about to finish his graduation in Lahore in 1939 when he was involved in the freedom movement and was imprisoned in Lahore Central Jail. ``The only good feeling I have about this trip is that I am again with all those patriots who had a vision. It is a different matter, how much of our dream have now come true.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.