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Intertwined Lives: P.N. Haksar & Indira Gandhi
This is the first definitive biography of arguably India’s most influential and powerful civil P.N. Haksar, Indira Gandhi’s alter ego during her period of glory.
Educated in the sciences and trained in law, Haksar was a diplomat by profession and a communist-turned-democratic socialist by conviction. He had known Indira Gandhi from their student days in London in the late-1930s, even though family links predated this friendship. They kept in touch, and in May 1967, she plucked him out of his diplomatic career and appointed him secretary in the prime minister’s Secretariat. This is when he emerged as her ideological beacon and moral compass, playing a pivotal role in her much-heralded achievements including the nationalization of banks, abolition of privy purses and princely privileges, the Indo-Soviet Treaty, the creation of Bangladesh, rapprochement with Sheikh Abdullah, the Simla and New Delhi Agreements with Pakistan, the emergence of the country as an agricultural, space and nuclear power and, later, the integration of Sikkim with India.
This power and influence notwithstanding, Haksar chose to walk away from Indira Gandhi in January 1973. She, however, persuaded him to soon return, first as her special envoy and later as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission where he left his distinctive imprint. Exiting government once and for all in May 1977, he then continued to be associated with a number of academic institutions and became the patron for various national causes like protecting India’s secular traditions, propagating of a scientific temper, strengthening the public sector and deepening technological self-reliance. Successive prime ministers sought his counsel and in May 1987, he initiated the reconstruction of India’s relations with China. He remained an unrepentant Marxist and one of India’s most respected elder statesman and leading public figures till his death in November 1998.
Drawing on Haksar’s extensive archives of official papers, memos, notes and letters, Jairam Ramesh presents a compelling chronicle of the life and times of a truly remarkable personality who decisively shaped the nation’s political and economic history in the 1960s and 1970s that continues to have relevance for today’s India as well. Written in Ramesh’s inimitable style, this work of formidable scholarship brings to life a man who is fast becoming a victim of collective amnesia.
Educated in the sciences and trained in law, Haksar was a diplomat by profession and a communist-turned-democratic socialist by conviction. He had known Indira Gandhi from their student days in London in the late-1930s, even though family links predated this friendship. They kept in touch, and in May 1967, she plucked him out of his diplomatic career and appointed him secretary in the prime minister’s Secretariat. This is when he emerged as her ideological beacon and moral compass, playing a pivotal role in her much-heralded achievements including the nationalization of banks, abolition of privy purses and princely privileges, the Indo-Soviet Treaty, the creation of Bangladesh, rapprochement with Sheikh Abdullah, the Simla and New Delhi Agreements with Pakistan, the emergence of the country as an agricultural, space and nuclear power and, later, the integration of Sikkim with India.
This power and influence notwithstanding, Haksar chose to walk away from Indira Gandhi in January 1973. She, however, persuaded him to soon return, first as her special envoy and later as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission where he left his distinctive imprint. Exiting government once and for all in May 1977, he then continued to be associated with a number of academic institutions and became the patron for various national causes like protecting India’s secular traditions, propagating of a scientific temper, strengthening the public sector and deepening technological self-reliance. Successive prime ministers sought his counsel and in May 1987, he initiated the reconstruction of India’s relations with China. He remained an unrepentant Marxist and one of India’s most respected elder statesman and leading public figures till his death in November 1998.
Drawing on Haksar’s extensive archives of official papers, memos, notes and letters, Jairam Ramesh presents a compelling chronicle of the life and times of a truly remarkable personality who decisively shaped the nation’s political and economic history in the 1960s and 1970s that continues to have relevance for today’s India as well. Written in Ramesh’s inimitable style, this work of formidable scholarship brings to life a man who is fast becoming a victim of collective amnesia.
920 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 19, 2018
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September 16, 2018
It was Katherine Frank’s brilliant biography of Indira Gandhi that introduced me to the person who can quite reasonably be called Indira’s consigliere - P.N.Haksar. To this day I have not forgotten the way that Ms. Frank referred to Haksar in her book in a most admiring way and then I did take the plunge and went in to do some more skinny dipping in the ocean of the internet to know a bit more about the gentleman. It was only serendipity that made me notice this book as I walked into a bookstore a few months ago. The whole concept of a leader and her manager amidst India’s most tumultuous age of political history was a chance I did not want to miss. Now that the book is done I asked myself this question as to whether my curiosity is satiated and the answer to that is a no. Allow me to explain why.
Let us consider a scenario : a few years post the death of a prominent professional, a biographer manages to extract the deceased person’s entire official email archive and begins to write a book almost exclusively based on these emails. The question to ponder about is : will a sketch of the said professional’s working capabilities and relationships constructed exclusively out of the emails be a complete one ? My answer to this was a no, this is since all of us wear some masks while we are at work. These masks are necessary to maintain level of maturity, decorum and discipline expected by our employers and fellow workers. Which is to say that with years of practice and self-discipline, someone can create a persona of their choice at the workplace. The principle behind this book is pretty much the scenario that I outlined with the only marked difference being that emails are replaced by handwritten notes and reports.
Haskar comes across as a brutally frank and yet incredibly competent bureaucrat whose fierce intellect is tempered by a strong belief in secularism and national integrity. He holds informed opinions across varied topics of India’s development and growth and this appears to be put to best use in guiding national policies and programs. The book follows Haksar through his heydays into his later slide into political oblivion. It is just that a reader is treated to what Haksar thinks and feels and at times what his boss thinks of his opinions but beyond that the book does not offer much. It does not make well rounded arguments but rather gives more of one sided opinions and thoughts on various aspects of public administration.
There is very little of original material and analysis in here since the author freely uses excerpts from reports, analysis, notes etc. from people in government service during Indira Gandhi’s prime ministerial days. What makes for great reading however is the language that Haksar uses in his official communication. The language is effortless, beautiful and does the job at being absolutely forthright while being dignified about it. Now if only I could write official emails in this fashion !
This was one of the books I read simply out of the fascination that I had with understanding a bit more about a very explosive time in Indian history. Not that I gained much from this exercise but it was an interesting read nonetheless !
Recommended only if you do take such flights of fantasy at times to delve into such off-beat topics.
Let us consider a scenario : a few years post the death of a prominent professional, a biographer manages to extract the deceased person’s entire official email archive and begins to write a book almost exclusively based on these emails. The question to ponder about is : will a sketch of the said professional’s working capabilities and relationships constructed exclusively out of the emails be a complete one ? My answer to this was a no, this is since all of us wear some masks while we are at work. These masks are necessary to maintain level of maturity, decorum and discipline expected by our employers and fellow workers. Which is to say that with years of practice and self-discipline, someone can create a persona of their choice at the workplace. The principle behind this book is pretty much the scenario that I outlined with the only marked difference being that emails are replaced by handwritten notes and reports.
Haskar comes across as a brutally frank and yet incredibly competent bureaucrat whose fierce intellect is tempered by a strong belief in secularism and national integrity. He holds informed opinions across varied topics of India’s development and growth and this appears to be put to best use in guiding national policies and programs. The book follows Haksar through his heydays into his later slide into political oblivion. It is just that a reader is treated to what Haksar thinks and feels and at times what his boss thinks of his opinions but beyond that the book does not offer much. It does not make well rounded arguments but rather gives more of one sided opinions and thoughts on various aspects of public administration.
There is very little of original material and analysis in here since the author freely uses excerpts from reports, analysis, notes etc. from people in government service during Indira Gandhi’s prime ministerial days. What makes for great reading however is the language that Haksar uses in his official communication. The language is effortless, beautiful and does the job at being absolutely forthright while being dignified about it. Now if only I could write official emails in this fashion !
This was one of the books I read simply out of the fascination that I had with understanding a bit more about a very explosive time in Indian history. Not that I gained much from this exercise but it was an interesting read nonetheless !
Recommended only if you do take such flights of fantasy at times to delve into such off-beat topics.
March 8, 2019
Nepotism and corruption were the hallmarks of Indira Gandhi's tenure as the Prime Minister of India. As soon as her sons came of age, she allowed them, especially the younger Sanjay Gandhi to dabble in administration that finally turned out to be disastrous for herself, her party and the nation itself in the form of Emergency declared in 1975. One wonders what would have been the outcome if she had sponsored Rajivfirst who was mild and gentle, as he was fit for it being the elder of the two. When the dynastic continuity was not ready during the period when the children were studying, she appointed cronies to positions of power. This caused resentment and she engineered the first split in Congress in just five years after the death of Nehru, her father. ParmeshwarNarainHaksar was a Kashmiri Pandit lawyer who was friends with both Indira and her husband Feroz in London in the 1930s. He was deputed from the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and made the principal secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from May 1967 to January 1973. He was the ideological compass and moral beacon of her in that period. His decisive contribution to some of the very crucial policies such as the nationalization of banks, coal and oil industries, abolition of privy purses, victory over Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh and integration of Sikkim to Indian Union is well acclaimed. Haksar has not published any memoirs of his official life and Jairam Ramesh steps in to rectify that anomaly with a comprehensive narration of the man's life which is marked by hard work and steadfastness to ideals. The author is an economist and politician of the Congress Party. He is known for his affable manners and wide friendship cutting across party lines. This intellectual has also served as a Union Minister under Manmohan Singh.
They Nehru family’s rule is marked by the ease with which people with the right connections could flout norms at will. Haksar joined the Foreign Service as an officer on special duty on temporary basis for preparing a report on the communal disturbances in India. Obviously, the home ministry objected to the foreign ministry handling this internal job. So, the program was cancelled and Haksar was confirmed onthejob! This somewhat explains Nehru's concept of equal opportunity to all. Haksar was then put on the Indian delegation to UN with Nehru's special interestand which discussed the Kashmir issue. He joined the service at a comparatively late age of 35 and had many younger colleagues senior in service to him. Haksar was peeved at this but could solve this problem by influencing Nehru and arranging a promotion after just six years of joining. The next milestone came in May 1967 when he was chosen as the secretary to the Prime Minister. Ramesh hints that part of the selection motive was his acting as the local guardian of both Sanjay and Rajiv who were studying in England. He used every open avenue towards reaching his targets. His retirement was due in 1971 at the age of 58. With two more months to go for that date, President VVGiri wrote an unusual letter to Indira Gandhi asking her to retain his service. It is fairly evident that Haksar was the prime mover in this extraordinary correspondence. The book has effectively exposed the wily face of a bureaucrat intent on self-preservation and scoring a point over his colleagues.
Another debilitating factor in India's economic backwardness of the Nehru-Indira era was the ubiquity of left-leaning bureaucrats and politicians in positions of responsibility and power who moulded the national policy to mirror their flawed ideology. Haksar was a former member of the Communist Party of India and maintained his ideological affiliation till the end. He was put in charge of repatriation of Korean POWs as part of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission set up in the aftermath of the Korean War of 1954. He locked horns with its chairman Lieutenant General Thimmayya on account of his supposed American preferences. He played a very decisive role in the nationalization of banks in 1969 and the abolition of Privy Purse and other princely privileges in 1970. Haksar’s old school socialism proved to be a millstone on the neck of the country’s economy. In place of a private small car project for which permission was sought by its promoters, Haksar suggested improving public transport and scooters for the employees. When a request came for enhancing the manufacturing capacity of a company producing scooters, he scuttled that too, with the argument that such a facility should come up in the public sector. His Anti-American sentiments put the country to unnecessary embarrassment. He once refused permission to the University of Chicago to set up an institute in Varanasi to study South Asian art. His curt advice was to constitute such a centre in their own country. His partisan approach was exposed when the issue of development of oil exploration came up in the Gulf of Cambay. He cut down the proposal for test drilling by the US companyTenneco upon the advice of Soviet experts. His visceral hatred towards America is evident in his terming New York as a ‘cerebrally arid’city. Is it any wonder that the US ditched a country in which people like Haksar called all the shots and instead went to Pakistan with open arms? In an extreme step, he suggested nationalization of land in urban areas with no private ownership allowed. Luckily for India, sanerminds prevailed over this hot-headed idea. While serving as an employee of the government, Haksar was used for political purposes too. He was tasked with preparing speeches, influence rebels in the party and playing the background drama ahead of party meetings including putting up his opinion even on cabinet reshuffles.
The author is somewhat reticent in openly discussing the Sanjay factor that resulted in Haksar’s ouster from Indira Gandhi’s inner circle. Even while in England, Haksar was instrumental in extricating Sanjay from youthful fracas involving wine, women and cars. The young man could not stand the old man's pontificating demeanour. After Indira became Prime Minister, Sanjay was illegally given a letter of intent to manufacture 50,000 small cars a year without any foreign collaboration and without any imported raw material. After tinkering with other people's money for a few years, the ‘prince’ understood that this was not feasible. Sanjay was first given six months time to convert the letter of intent to a licence. This was then extended to eighteen months and the import restrictions fully waived. Eventually, it was granted in 1974 without producing a single car. Haksar opposed him at every stage and even suggested to Indira to ask her son to move out of the prime minister's official residence. Haksar was a fearless critic when the need arose. He pointed out Nehru's faults even when he was working with him. It is only natural that he took Sanjay head-on on his pampered antics.
The author vividly portrays Haksar’s fall from grace. Sanjay and his coterie smoked him out of the PM’s office. Haksar retaliated by refusing to testify in Indira Gandhi's favour in the Allahabad High Court which was examining the witnesses in a case filed against her for electoral malpractices. The court eventually decided against the prime minister, stripping her of the parliament seat. She responded by declaring an internal Emergency that suspended all democratic rights in the country for twenty-one gruelling months. The dynasty took their revenge against him within three weeks after the onset of Emergency. Haksar’s aged uncle and his brother-in-law were arrested from their business shop on the flimsy charge of not affixing price tags to a set of bed sheets. Haksar was the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission at that time, but in Indira’s reign, anybody not in her kitchen cabinet was impotent. Both Indira and Haksar kept the slight a point of contention in their future interactions. When a commentator later called Haksar ‘the conscience keeper of Indira Gandhi’, he replied with contempt that he could not be the keeper of something which did not exist (p.482). However, they kept good outward appearances and courtesy in letters and public functions.
India's economic miracle was unveiled after 1991 when Narasimha Rao scrapped the labyrinthine rules and procedures that regulated industrial investment. It is now taken for granted that India before and after the liberalisation are two distinct entities. However, the author seems to be in a time warp, praising Indira and Haksar for strengthening planning and the public sector to ‘rebuild the economy’! It also makes some tall claims on the contribution of mediocre leaders like V K Krishna Menon whose only part in setting India's foreign policy was to antagonize the US with his outspoken and irrelevant criticism. The author claims that Krishna Menon’s efforts resulted in an armistice in the Korean War (p.59). Ramesh is very careful not to put in comments or observations that might alienate the Nehru family who still commands the Congress party of which he is a member. Utmost care seems to be the trademark of the book.
The author has not bothered to establish a structure for the droll narrative which is more like excerpts from a diary. The myriad number of verbatim quotes from letters, documents and office memoranda are trying the patience of the readers. An amusing factor that adds to the book’s appeal is a series of twelve candid photos of Indira Gandhi taken by Haksar while on a river cruise in Dhaka in 1972 during the period of about half an hour.
The book is recommended.
They Nehru family’s rule is marked by the ease with which people with the right connections could flout norms at will. Haksar joined the Foreign Service as an officer on special duty on temporary basis for preparing a report on the communal disturbances in India. Obviously, the home ministry objected to the foreign ministry handling this internal job. So, the program was cancelled and Haksar was confirmed onthejob! This somewhat explains Nehru's concept of equal opportunity to all. Haksar was then put on the Indian delegation to UN with Nehru's special interestand which discussed the Kashmir issue. He joined the service at a comparatively late age of 35 and had many younger colleagues senior in service to him. Haksar was peeved at this but could solve this problem by influencing Nehru and arranging a promotion after just six years of joining. The next milestone came in May 1967 when he was chosen as the secretary to the Prime Minister. Ramesh hints that part of the selection motive was his acting as the local guardian of both Sanjay and Rajiv who were studying in England. He used every open avenue towards reaching his targets. His retirement was due in 1971 at the age of 58. With two more months to go for that date, President VVGiri wrote an unusual letter to Indira Gandhi asking her to retain his service. It is fairly evident that Haksar was the prime mover in this extraordinary correspondence. The book has effectively exposed the wily face of a bureaucrat intent on self-preservation and scoring a point over his colleagues.
Another debilitating factor in India's economic backwardness of the Nehru-Indira era was the ubiquity of left-leaning bureaucrats and politicians in positions of responsibility and power who moulded the national policy to mirror their flawed ideology. Haksar was a former member of the Communist Party of India and maintained his ideological affiliation till the end. He was put in charge of repatriation of Korean POWs as part of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission set up in the aftermath of the Korean War of 1954. He locked horns with its chairman Lieutenant General Thimmayya on account of his supposed American preferences. He played a very decisive role in the nationalization of banks in 1969 and the abolition of Privy Purse and other princely privileges in 1970. Haksar’s old school socialism proved to be a millstone on the neck of the country’s economy. In place of a private small car project for which permission was sought by its promoters, Haksar suggested improving public transport and scooters for the employees. When a request came for enhancing the manufacturing capacity of a company producing scooters, he scuttled that too, with the argument that such a facility should come up in the public sector. His Anti-American sentiments put the country to unnecessary embarrassment. He once refused permission to the University of Chicago to set up an institute in Varanasi to study South Asian art. His curt advice was to constitute such a centre in their own country. His partisan approach was exposed when the issue of development of oil exploration came up in the Gulf of Cambay. He cut down the proposal for test drilling by the US companyTenneco upon the advice of Soviet experts. His visceral hatred towards America is evident in his terming New York as a ‘cerebrally arid’city. Is it any wonder that the US ditched a country in which people like Haksar called all the shots and instead went to Pakistan with open arms? In an extreme step, he suggested nationalization of land in urban areas with no private ownership allowed. Luckily for India, sanerminds prevailed over this hot-headed idea. While serving as an employee of the government, Haksar was used for political purposes too. He was tasked with preparing speeches, influence rebels in the party and playing the background drama ahead of party meetings including putting up his opinion even on cabinet reshuffles.
The author is somewhat reticent in openly discussing the Sanjay factor that resulted in Haksar’s ouster from Indira Gandhi’s inner circle. Even while in England, Haksar was instrumental in extricating Sanjay from youthful fracas involving wine, women and cars. The young man could not stand the old man's pontificating demeanour. After Indira became Prime Minister, Sanjay was illegally given a letter of intent to manufacture 50,000 small cars a year without any foreign collaboration and without any imported raw material. After tinkering with other people's money for a few years, the ‘prince’ understood that this was not feasible. Sanjay was first given six months time to convert the letter of intent to a licence. This was then extended to eighteen months and the import restrictions fully waived. Eventually, it was granted in 1974 without producing a single car. Haksar opposed him at every stage and even suggested to Indira to ask her son to move out of the prime minister's official residence. Haksar was a fearless critic when the need arose. He pointed out Nehru's faults even when he was working with him. It is only natural that he took Sanjay head-on on his pampered antics.
The author vividly portrays Haksar’s fall from grace. Sanjay and his coterie smoked him out of the PM’s office. Haksar retaliated by refusing to testify in Indira Gandhi's favour in the Allahabad High Court which was examining the witnesses in a case filed against her for electoral malpractices. The court eventually decided against the prime minister, stripping her of the parliament seat. She responded by declaring an internal Emergency that suspended all democratic rights in the country for twenty-one gruelling months. The dynasty took their revenge against him within three weeks after the onset of Emergency. Haksar’s aged uncle and his brother-in-law were arrested from their business shop on the flimsy charge of not affixing price tags to a set of bed sheets. Haksar was the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission at that time, but in Indira’s reign, anybody not in her kitchen cabinet was impotent. Both Indira and Haksar kept the slight a point of contention in their future interactions. When a commentator later called Haksar ‘the conscience keeper of Indira Gandhi’, he replied with contempt that he could not be the keeper of something which did not exist (p.482). However, they kept good outward appearances and courtesy in letters and public functions.
India's economic miracle was unveiled after 1991 when Narasimha Rao scrapped the labyrinthine rules and procedures that regulated industrial investment. It is now taken for granted that India before and after the liberalisation are two distinct entities. However, the author seems to be in a time warp, praising Indira and Haksar for strengthening planning and the public sector to ‘rebuild the economy’! It also makes some tall claims on the contribution of mediocre leaders like V K Krishna Menon whose only part in setting India's foreign policy was to antagonize the US with his outspoken and irrelevant criticism. The author claims that Krishna Menon’s efforts resulted in an armistice in the Korean War (p.59). Ramesh is very careful not to put in comments or observations that might alienate the Nehru family who still commands the Congress party of which he is a member. Utmost care seems to be the trademark of the book.
The author has not bothered to establish a structure for the droll narrative which is more like excerpts from a diary. The myriad number of verbatim quotes from letters, documents and office memoranda are trying the patience of the readers. An amusing factor that adds to the book’s appeal is a series of twelve candid photos of Indira Gandhi taken by Haksar while on a river cruise in Dhaka in 1972 during the period of about half an hour.
The book is recommended.
July 10, 2020
"Civil servants are judged by what they accomplish before they retire"
This book which is roughly 500 pages took me a week to finish. With the gripping narration from the author Jairam Ramesh, the story of P.N. Haksar is a lesson to every aspiring civil servant who dream to put his country in path of progress. P.N. Haksar was a man of intellect, honesty and deep integrity whose ideological position of being politically left never interfered with his commitment towards public service. As much as he admired Jawaharlal Nehru for his intellectual rigor, P.N. Haksar exhibited profound loyalty to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who turned back to him for advice on various issues of national interests, often, very often and all the times. With his three decades of public service, Haksar played a pivotal role in various decisions of national interests during the 60s and 70s of Indian political history.
When the UN delegation met in America over the issue of Kashmir in 1948, young Haksar was one of the member along with Sheik Abdullah, Gopalswamy Iynegar and many other notable names. Jawaharlal Nehru himself acknowledged his selection to Lord Mountbatten describing Haksar as "very intelligent and bright young man". This was the start of his public service, which ended in 1998 with an impeccable record. From serving different countries as an ambassador and as an high commissioner in the embassy of London for many years, Mr. P.N. Haksar was on par with legends such as Henry Kissinger in the matters of diplomacy and foreign policy with his uncompromising negotiation skills and never say die attitude. When Indira Gandhi personally plucked him out of Indian Foreign Service and made him her personal secretary, Haksar might had little idea about the role he would be playing in coming decade, which shaped the Indian politics differently, altogether. Indira Gandhi sought crucial advice from Haksar during her major political moves including the nationalization of banks, war with Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh, signing the Simla agreement, annexation of Sikkim, rapprochement with China after a massive time gap of 14 years and other major decisions concerning science and technology including space program and nuclear power. The chronological orchestration of all the letters from the archives, notes and official papers cited in this book proves that Haksar was truly an alter ego during Indira Gandhi's period of glory, where the later heavily relied on the former's judgement on above mentioned issues of national importance.
To Indira Gandhi, Haksar was a man of immense influence and trust and this was proved once again during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, when Haksar masterminded the framework of grand strategy integrating the military, diplomatic and domestic actions required to speed up the liberation of Bangladesh. On the flip side, Haksar was also a pacifist who was instrumental in drafting the Simla agreement after a series of negotiations in order to the seal the deal of permanent peace in the Indo-Pak borders. Even today, if the Simla agreement is widely criticized as India's syndrome of inability to exploit battlefield victory and as a surreal instance of negating India's claim on the POK, Haksar had his reasons to uphold the peace treaty because he was a man who had trust issues with America but wanted a friendly neighborhood comprising China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For this reason, after the Indo-China war of 1962, when India cut off ties with China for more than a decade, it was Haksar who reinstated the diplomatic ties in 1976.
P.N. Haksar served under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi under various positions for three decades and he guided the later during her turbulent years and played significant role in appointing Dr. Manmohan Singh as the chairman of planning commission and Sathish Dhawan as chairman of ISRO after the death of his friend Vikram Sarabhai. Haksar was a man of secular credentials and scientific temper who believed in modernism. He dismantled the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and built the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) along his friend R.N. Kao. RAW further went to prove its indispensable role in India's victory of 1971. During the Indira Gandhi years, Haksar was considered to be the man with Midas Touch only to later become the political victim of Sanjay Gandhi's long standing grudge against him. Haksar out-rightly opposed the installation of Maruti Plant as per Sanjay Gandhi's wish and this was only a spark in their patchy relation which later blew as a time bomb in 1975 when Sanjay Gandhi had Haksar's 90 year old brothers, sister and wife arrested during emergency under frivolous charges. To our surprise, Haksar was a silent spectator all through this pain, only to prove his loyalty to Mrs. Gandhi. Even after his retirement, he served the country under various domains such as chairman of planning commission, chairman of CSIR, chancellor of JNU and various other departments pertaining to art, culture and education.
P.N Haksar is truly remarkable personality who has to be read in order to understand how a mixture of knowledge, intellect, commitment, patriotism, rationality and service mindedness can mold an individual to reach higher in life.
This book which is roughly 500 pages took me a week to finish. With the gripping narration from the author Jairam Ramesh, the story of P.N. Haksar is a lesson to every aspiring civil servant who dream to put his country in path of progress. P.N. Haksar was a man of intellect, honesty and deep integrity whose ideological position of being politically left never interfered with his commitment towards public service. As much as he admired Jawaharlal Nehru for his intellectual rigor, P.N. Haksar exhibited profound loyalty to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who turned back to him for advice on various issues of national interests, often, very often and all the times. With his three decades of public service, Haksar played a pivotal role in various decisions of national interests during the 60s and 70s of Indian political history.
When the UN delegation met in America over the issue of Kashmir in 1948, young Haksar was one of the member along with Sheik Abdullah, Gopalswamy Iynegar and many other notable names. Jawaharlal Nehru himself acknowledged his selection to Lord Mountbatten describing Haksar as "very intelligent and bright young man". This was the start of his public service, which ended in 1998 with an impeccable record. From serving different countries as an ambassador and as an high commissioner in the embassy of London for many years, Mr. P.N. Haksar was on par with legends such as Henry Kissinger in the matters of diplomacy and foreign policy with his uncompromising negotiation skills and never say die attitude. When Indira Gandhi personally plucked him out of Indian Foreign Service and made him her personal secretary, Haksar might had little idea about the role he would be playing in coming decade, which shaped the Indian politics differently, altogether. Indira Gandhi sought crucial advice from Haksar during her major political moves including the nationalization of banks, war with Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh, signing the Simla agreement, annexation of Sikkim, rapprochement with China after a massive time gap of 14 years and other major decisions concerning science and technology including space program and nuclear power. The chronological orchestration of all the letters from the archives, notes and official papers cited in this book proves that Haksar was truly an alter ego during Indira Gandhi's period of glory, where the later heavily relied on the former's judgement on above mentioned issues of national importance.
To Indira Gandhi, Haksar was a man of immense influence and trust and this was proved once again during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, when Haksar masterminded the framework of grand strategy integrating the military, diplomatic and domestic actions required to speed up the liberation of Bangladesh. On the flip side, Haksar was also a pacifist who was instrumental in drafting the Simla agreement after a series of negotiations in order to the seal the deal of permanent peace in the Indo-Pak borders. Even today, if the Simla agreement is widely criticized as India's syndrome of inability to exploit battlefield victory and as a surreal instance of negating India's claim on the POK, Haksar had his reasons to uphold the peace treaty because he was a man who had trust issues with America but wanted a friendly neighborhood comprising China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For this reason, after the Indo-China war of 1962, when India cut off ties with China for more than a decade, it was Haksar who reinstated the diplomatic ties in 1976.
P.N. Haksar served under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi under various positions for three decades and he guided the later during her turbulent years and played significant role in appointing Dr. Manmohan Singh as the chairman of planning commission and Sathish Dhawan as chairman of ISRO after the death of his friend Vikram Sarabhai. Haksar was a man of secular credentials and scientific temper who believed in modernism. He dismantled the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and built the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) along his friend R.N. Kao. RAW further went to prove its indispensable role in India's victory of 1971. During the Indira Gandhi years, Haksar was considered to be the man with Midas Touch only to later become the political victim of Sanjay Gandhi's long standing grudge against him. Haksar out-rightly opposed the installation of Maruti Plant as per Sanjay Gandhi's wish and this was only a spark in their patchy relation which later blew as a time bomb in 1975 when Sanjay Gandhi had Haksar's 90 year old brothers, sister and wife arrested during emergency under frivolous charges. To our surprise, Haksar was a silent spectator all through this pain, only to prove his loyalty to Mrs. Gandhi. Even after his retirement, he served the country under various domains such as chairman of planning commission, chairman of CSIR, chancellor of JNU and various other departments pertaining to art, culture and education.
P.N Haksar is truly remarkable personality who has to be read in order to understand how a mixture of knowledge, intellect, commitment, patriotism, rationality and service mindedness can mold an individual to reach higher in life.
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August 17, 2024Although I personally dislike the Con'Man'gress and its role in India's stagnation, creating a template of 'sycophancy' and appeasement in the outward veneer of a mirage of so-called secularism, this biography is insightful when it comes to revealing the character of one of the prime movers and shakers in the republic's existence.
The fact that many people are not even aware that there was such a 'man' owes probably to apathy towards one's own history or today's 'moronic' overkill that fixates on the Kardashians or Ambani weddings. To quote Mr. Haksar himself, probably J. Ramesh and Tharoor are the right men in the wrong party- if only they could exert their talents in the positive trajectory of the republic instead of the sham that goes on every day in parliament in the name of democracy and saving the constiution.
PN Haksar was an erudite intellectual of a different era, a Nehru acolyte and in his own words a 'valet' to the Nehru-Gandhi family. But, this Marxist leaning Kashmiri Pandit was also an independent thinker even if he was caught in the same haloed mire of the 'Ganga-Jamuni' Tehzeeb. I read many interesting anecdotes here- how Mountbatten requested Haksar and Indira Gandhi to honour him with official Indian armed forces presence like Nehru did for Edwina.
Haksar's years in England and the leftist currents of the same time shaped his world-view impacting India's destiny itself. Having lived for some time in that country myself, I am amazed at its continuing impact on the subcontinent. PN Haksar was a mentor to Indira Gandhi, steering her through bank nationalisation, the Bangladesh war, the Simla agreement and made his presence felt in multiple spheres including education, the JNU, cultural academies, the nuclear explosion at Pokhran, think tanks, interactions with the devilish duo Nixon and Kissinger, Indo-China relations and the space programme where he persuaded Dr. Satish Dhawan from Caltech to helm ISRO.
It was also surprising that due to the insistence of Mr. Dhawan who did not want to move out of Bengaluru, India's space programme is headquartered there. In fact this was one of his main conditions to Indira Gandhi. The painful episodes of the Emergency, the animus that Sanjay Gandhi held for the well-meaning Haksar resulted in the tragic arrests of few of his relatives. But, Shri Haksar was loyal to the N-G dynasty and his 'perceptions' of India's interests till the end. His friendship with Chakravarthy and their dissing Marx and his 'childish' love for Jenny Westphalen was also mentioned, an interesting snippet.
I have visited Highgate cemetery and seen the grave of this 'bourgeois prophet' myself, so this fact hit home. The unsung Marx would have been just another drunkard were it not for Lenin and the Russian revolution.
The author has managed to keep the pace interesting, however it is sluggish in some parts. All in all, an interesting read if you want to gain more insight into India's political, economic history and geopolitical strategy.
The fact that many people are not even aware that there was such a 'man' owes probably to apathy towards one's own history or today's 'moronic' overkill that fixates on the Kardashians or Ambani weddings. To quote Mr. Haksar himself, probably J. Ramesh and Tharoor are the right men in the wrong party- if only they could exert their talents in the positive trajectory of the republic instead of the sham that goes on every day in parliament in the name of democracy and saving the constiution.
PN Haksar was an erudite intellectual of a different era, a Nehru acolyte and in his own words a 'valet' to the Nehru-Gandhi family. But, this Marxist leaning Kashmiri Pandit was also an independent thinker even if he was caught in the same haloed mire of the 'Ganga-Jamuni' Tehzeeb. I read many interesting anecdotes here- how Mountbatten requested Haksar and Indira Gandhi to honour him with official Indian armed forces presence like Nehru did for Edwina.
Haksar's years in England and the leftist currents of the same time shaped his world-view impacting India's destiny itself. Having lived for some time in that country myself, I am amazed at its continuing impact on the subcontinent. PN Haksar was a mentor to Indira Gandhi, steering her through bank nationalisation, the Bangladesh war, the Simla agreement and made his presence felt in multiple spheres including education, the JNU, cultural academies, the nuclear explosion at Pokhran, think tanks, interactions with the devilish duo Nixon and Kissinger, Indo-China relations and the space programme where he persuaded Dr. Satish Dhawan from Caltech to helm ISRO.
It was also surprising that due to the insistence of Mr. Dhawan who did not want to move out of Bengaluru, India's space programme is headquartered there. In fact this was one of his main conditions to Indira Gandhi. The painful episodes of the Emergency, the animus that Sanjay Gandhi held for the well-meaning Haksar resulted in the tragic arrests of few of his relatives. But, Shri Haksar was loyal to the N-G dynasty and his 'perceptions' of India's interests till the end. His friendship with Chakravarthy and their dissing Marx and his 'childish' love for Jenny Westphalen was also mentioned, an interesting snippet.
I have visited Highgate cemetery and seen the grave of this 'bourgeois prophet' myself, so this fact hit home. The unsung Marx would have been just another drunkard were it not for Lenin and the Russian revolution.
The author has managed to keep the pace interesting, however it is sluggish in some parts. All in all, an interesting read if you want to gain more insight into India's political, economic history and geopolitical strategy.
September 30, 2018
Not a regular civil servant
PN Haksar, gatekeeper to Indira Gandhi and perhaps her strongest strategic advisor. The very well researched book by Jairam Ramesh is not just a regular biography but also takes us through the evolution of Indian policy making and foreign relationships.
One of India's foremost intellectuals Haksar's true contribution will never be known to a common Indian ! A must read for all political enthusiasts
PN Haksar, gatekeeper to Indira Gandhi and perhaps her strongest strategic advisor. The very well researched book by Jairam Ramesh is not just a regular biography but also takes us through the evolution of Indian policy making and foreign relationships.
One of India's foremost intellectuals Haksar's true contribution will never be known to a common Indian ! A must read for all political enthusiasts
September 11, 2018
An eye opening book about a rare bureaucrat who worked so closely with Indira Gandhi that he could sometimes be her alter ego.
The history of our country covering a large part of the 20 th century comes alive in the able hands of Jairam Ramesh.
The story of emergency, the rise and fall of Indira Gandhi are objectively brought out in this meticulous work.
The history of our country covering a large part of the 20 th century comes alive in the able hands of Jairam Ramesh.
The story of emergency, the rise and fall of Indira Gandhi are objectively brought out in this meticulous work.
August 15, 2018
Enjoyed reading it. Had a few questions for Jairam though! Would ask him once I get hold of him!!
June 7, 2021
A nice biography of PN Haksar, with a major focus on his relationship (professional and personal) with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. One of the fascinating aspects of this book is how socialism is rationalised in the India of 1965 - 1980, explained through the worldview of PN Haksar. What I also found nice was a flavour of nationalism practiced by Haksar sahab, that is very relatable to me through different aspects like: a strong commitment to indigenous science and technology, an outlook to study and understand the external world (specifically China, US, Europe and the Soviet Union) and find a way to harmonise (and not conflict!) Indian culture and thought with them without compromising on our self interest. He also practiced a very high level of professional and personal integrity and an enduring sense of humility with detachment to the easy and corruptible rewards of power. A good read to understand the India of 1965-1980 through the life of one of its most powerful bureaucrats and intellectuals. I hope someone gives a similar account of Brajesh Mishra and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
October 14, 2018
Typical Jairam Ramesh with a lot of references and archival content.
PN Haksar played a huge role behind the scenes - like a true bureaucrat and diplomat. And the author accounts every aspect of his life both as a frontman and a sounding board to Ms Indira Gandhi.
Worth reading if you are interested in Indian politics - post Nehru. (Italics mine )
PN Haksar played a huge role behind the scenes - like a true bureaucrat and diplomat. And the author accounts every aspect of his life both as a frontman and a sounding board to Ms Indira Gandhi.
Worth reading if you are interested in Indian politics - post Nehru. (Italics mine )
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