P. N. Haksar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission | |
| In office 4 January 1975 – 31 May 1977 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| 1stPrincipal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 6 December 1971 – 28 February 1973 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | V. Shankar |
| 2ndSecretary to the Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 1967 – 5 December 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Lakshmi Kant Jha |
| Succeeded by | Office temporarily abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar (1913-09-04)September 4, 1913 Gujranwala,Punjab,British India (present-dayPunjab,Pakistan) |
| Died | November 25, 1998(1998-11-25) (aged 85) New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Spouse | Urmila Sapru |
| Children | 2 |
Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar (4 September 1913 – 25 November 1998) was an Indian bureaucrat and diplomat, best known for his two-year stint as Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi'sprincipal secretary (1971–73). In that role, Haksar was the chief strategist and policy adviser behind Gandhi's early years and her establishment of strong authority in the 1970s. After this he was appointed deputy chairman of thePlanning Commission and then the first-ever chancellor of New Delhi'sJawaharlal Nehru University.
An advocate ofcentralisation andsocialism, he was aKashmiri Pandit who became Gandhi's closest confidant in her inner coterie of bureaucrats, the so-called "Kashmiri mafia". Before this, Haksar was a diplomat of theIndian Foreign Service, who served as India'sambassador to Austria and Nigeria.
Haksar was born in 1913, in Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) in aKashmiri Pandit family. He studied Sanskrit at home and obtained an M.Sc. from the University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He went on to study at theLondon School of Economics. Some critics observed a perceived alignment with Soviet ideology.[1] As a student of Allahabad University, he was a resident of Mayo Hall and made frequent visits to theAnand Bhawan, the house ofMotilal Nehru.[2] Parmeshwar was a voracious reader of art history and connoisseur of paintings.[2] During his interlude in London as a student, he was influenced byFabian socialism and later became associated with Marxists.[1][2]
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.[3]
Following university, Haksar made his mark as a prominent lawyer inAllahabad before he was selected for theIndian Foreign Service in 1947,[4] formally joining the service by direct appointment with effect from 18 January 1949.[5] He was close to a fellow-Kashmiri from AllahabadJawaharlal Nehru, the latter who would go on to become independent India's first prime minister. A one-time student at theLondon School of Economics, he was a junior colleague ofV. K. Krishna Menon at the India League in London. Some critics viewed Haksar as overly assertive and suggested he was aligned with Soviet interests.
P. N. Haksar served as the Indian ambassador to Nigeria and Austria.[6] In the 1960s, he also served as a deputy high commissioner in London.[1] After twenty years in the Indian foreign service, he was appointed an aide to the thenprime minister, Indira Gandhi.[4] In 1967, he replacedL. K. Jha as Secretary to the Prime Minister of India. He was promoted to the newly created post ofPrincipal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India in 1971, thus becoming the most powerful senior civil servant in the prime minister's office. He served for six years as India's most powerful civil servant. He authored the 'Stray Thoughts Memorandum' at theCongress Working Committee meeting in Bangalore which ultimately led to the removal of her political rivals, such asMorarji Desai.[7] Until he vacated the position of Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi, Haksar exercised significant influence on the formulation of domestic and foreign policies inRaisina Hill.[4] As Principal Secretary, Haksar fashioned Indira Gandhi's decision about the timing and level of support to be given to theBangladeshi freedom struggle, issuing directives from her private office to the top military leadership in some cases.[8] The Prime Minister and her Principal Secretary subsequently fell out because Haksar reportedly disagreed with Indira's 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 reportedly maintained a distance from Indira Gandhi following this incident. When she returned to power for the second time in 1980, she requested he resume his former role, but Haksar declined.
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 theShimla Agreement with Pakistan, as he was of the creation of theResearch and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's foreign secret intelligence agency[3]
Upon his retirement from the civil service in 1973, Indira Gandhi offered Haksar India's second highest civilian honour, thePadma Vibhushan, for his numerous distinguished services to India; however, in a letter toGovind Narain 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.[9]
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Haksar authored several influential works throughout his career, reflecting his insights on Indian policy, diplomacy, and society.[10][11]
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