Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar (4 September 1913 – 25 November 1998) was an Indian bureaucrat and diplomat, best known for his two-year stint as Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
's
principal secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries.
* Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan
* Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan
* Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...
(1971–73). In that role, Haksar was the chief strategist and policy adviser behind his inexperienced prime minister's rise to near-absolute power in the mid-1970s. After this he was appointed deputy chairman of the
Planning Commission and then the first-ever chancellor of New Delhi's
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
.
An advocate of
centralisation
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
and
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
, he was a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
who became Gandhi's closest confidant in her inner coterie of bureaucrats, the so-called "Kashmiri mafia". Prior to this, Haksar was a diplomat of the
Indian Foreign Service
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...
, who served as India's
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to Austria and Nigeria.
Personal life
Haksar was born in 1913, Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) in a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
family. He studied Sanskrit at home and obtained an M.Sc. from University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He went on to study in the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
. Critics say he was far too close to Soviet ideology.
As a student of Allahabad university, he was a resident of Mayo Hall and made frequent visits to the
Anand Bhawan
The Anand Bhavan is a historic house museum in Prayagraj, India, focusing on the Nehru family. It was bought by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 1930s to serve as the residence of the Nehru family when the original mansion Swaraj Bh ...
, the house of
Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was a patriarch of the Nehr ...
.
Parmeshwar was a voracious reader of art history and also a connoisseur of paintings.
During his interlude in London as a student, he was influenced by
Fabian socialism and later become associated with Marxists.
During the latter years of his life, Haksar became associated with the Delhi Science Forum, initiatives on human rights, and opposition to neo-liberal policies and secularism. He lost his eyesight during the last 10 years of his life when the only pleasure he allowed himself was a weekly massage. Haksar died at the age of 85, on 25 November 1998.
[Praful Bidwai.]
The last of the Nehruvians
. ''Frontline''. 19 December 1998.
Career
Early career
Haksar had already made his mark as a prominent lawyer in
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
, before he was selected in the
Indian Foreign Service
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...
in 1947,
and was close to fellow-Kashmiri from Allahabad
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, the latter who would go on to become independent India's first prime minister. A one-time student at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
, he was a junior colleague of
V. K. Krishna Menon
Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician, and non-career diplomat. He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawa ...
at the India League in London.Critics say he was arrogant, occasionally vindictive, uncomfortably close to Soviet thinking and a willing tool of Moscow.
Civil services
P. N. Haksar served as the India ambassador to Nigeria and Austria. In the 1960s, he also served as a deputy high commissioner in London.
After twenty years in the Indian foreign service, he was appointed an aide to the then
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, Indira Gandhi.
In 1967, he replaced
L. K. Jha as Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, and was promoted to the newly created post of
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India
The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM) is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant, commonly from the Indian Adminis ...
in 1971, thus becoming the most powerful senior civil servant in the prime minister's office.In total he served for six years as India's most powerful civil servant. He authored the 'Stray Thoughts Memorandum' at the
Congress Working Committee
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It typically consists of fifteen members electe ...
meeting in Bangalore which ultimately led to the
defenestration
Defenestration (from Modern Latin ) is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618 which became the spark that started the Thirty Years' War. Th ...
of her political rivals such as like
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...
.
Until he vacated the position of Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi, Haksar exercised significant influence on the formulation of domestic and foreign policies in
Raisina Hill
Raisina Hill ( IAST: ''Rāyasīnā Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residenc ...
.
As Principal Secretary, Haksar fashioned Indira Gandhi's decision about the timing and level of support to be given to
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
i freedom struggle, issuing directives from her private office to the top military leadership in some cases.
The Prime Minister and her Principal Secretary subsequently fell out because Haksar despised Indira's poorly educated and lacklustre younger son, Sanjay, who aspired to be his mother's successor. It was Sanjay who authorised a police raid on the Haksar family's shop in New Delhi, Pandit Brothers, deliberately humiliating the civil servant. Haksar never forgave Indira. When she returned to power for the second time in 1980, she pleaded with him to resume his former role. To his credit Haksar stood his ground and refused, even at the risk of being persecuted.
Administrator and strategist
Haksar was noted for his strategising on the nationalisation of banks, insurance firms and foreign-owned oil companies, the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty and India's support to the liberation of what would become Bangladesh. He is also the chief architect of the
Shimla Agreement
The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which ...
with Pakistan, as he was of the creation of the
Research and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, an ...
(R&AW), India's foreign secret intelligence agency
[
]
Refusal of Padma Vibhushan
Upon his retirement from the civil service in 1973, Indira Gandhi offered Haksar India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...
, for his numerous distinguished services to India; however, in a letter to Govind Narain
Govind Narain, ICS (5 May 1916 – 3 April 2012) was an Indian civil servant who was member of the Indian Civil Service and served as the 8th Governor of Karnataka.
He formerly served as 12th Defence Secretary of India (1973 to 1975), Ho ...
he declined the honour stating that "Accepting an award for work done somehow causes an inexplicable discomfort to me." The prime minister duly rescinded her offer.
Books
*''Premonitions'' (1979)
*''Reflections on our Times'' (1982)
*''One more Life'' (1990)
*''Genesis of Indo-Pakistan Conflict on Kashmir''
*''Haksar Memorial Vol-1Contemplations on the Human Condition''
*''Haksar Memorial Vol-2 Contribution in Remembrance''
*''Haksar Memorial Vol-3 Challenge for Nation Building in a world in turmoil''
*''Nehru's Vision of Peace and Security in Nuclear Age''
*''Studies in Indo-Soviet Relations''
References
External links
*K. R. Narayanan
Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1921 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the 9th vice president of India, Vice President of India from 1992 to 1997 and 10th President of India fr ...
Speech in memory of P. N. Haksar; 7 January 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haksar, P. N.
Haksar, P. N.
Haksar, P. N.
Haksar, P. N.
Haksar, P. N.
University of Allahabad alumni
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Scholars from Allahabad
20th-century Indian lawyers
Haskar, P. N.