How Indira Gandhi ‘Emotionally Blackmailed’ PN Haksar to Return

Haksar was Indira Gandhi’s ideological anchor and moral compass from 1967 to 1972.

(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi. It was originally published on 19 June 2018.)

Jairam Ramesh, in his latest book titled Intertwined Lives, traces the relationship between Indira Gandhi and her principal secretary PN Haksar, whom he remembers as the former prime minister’s “ideological anchor and moral compass”.

Haksar took over as secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 6 May 1967 and resigned on 15 January 1973. He had been at her side for more than half a decade.

In his new book, Jairam Ramesh chronicles how the relationship between Haksar and Indira went downhill. In one of the chapters titled “A Prime Minister’s Special Envoy”, Ramesh talks about what, according to him, could have led to the trouble between Gandhi and Haksar.

Note: The following text contains excerpts from the book, published with permission from Simon & Schuster India. Only the headings have been added to each section for the reader’s benefit.

Sanjay Gandhi’s Trouble With Haksar

Eight days after Haksar had joined her, on 14 May 1967, Indira Gandhi sent him an extract of a letter she had received from her younger son Sanjay in Crewe. The extract reads thus:

I have talked to PN Haksar about my future some time back and I didn’t get anything concrete out of it. He seems to be of a similar opinion as you are. [He says] “Plans won’t work” before even knowing what they are. As far as staying with Rolls Royce is concerned, I am wasting my time here and have been doing for the last 4 or 5 months. I don’t want to continue doing so for 2 more years. Besides I am not the only apprentice that sits around doing virtually nothing, most of them are in the same boat.

Clearly, Haksar and Sanjay had not hit it off even when the two of them were in the UK. PNH wanted him to study and complete the course in which he was enrolled, whereas Sanjay felt that he had had enough and didn’t want to study further; not more than the ONC [Ordinary National Certificate] which he told his mother ‘is on the same level as the 2nd year of an Indian University’.

Haksar and Indira Gandhi wanted him to get what was called HNC [Higher National Certificate] but Sanjay was not keen on it. This continued lack of chemistry between Haksar and Sanjay would provide the background to the differences that would arise between PNH and Indira Gandhi a year later over Sanjay’s business ambitions.

Haksar’s Resignation

On 17 January 1973, he (Haksar) wrote to Govind Narain, the union home secretary — one of the ICS officers he was genuinely fond of, and with whom he would remain in touch for another two decades:

You spoke to me over the RAX [restricted telephone line] yesterday morning and asked me, with a rare sense of delicacy, if I would accept the Award of Padma Vibhushan for the Republic Day of 1973. You said that it was PM’s desire that I should do so. You were good enough to give me some time to think it over. And this I have done. May I, first of all, say that the very thought that I should be given an Award is by itself a great reward for whatever services I might have rendered as a public servant. I am grateful for this to PM. However, I have a difficulty in accepting the award: All these years I have often said to myself that one should work so that one can live with oneself without regret. This gave me a measure of inner tranquility and even courage. Accepting an award for work done somehow causes an inexplicable discomfort to me. I hope I will not be misunderstood. I repeat I am grateful for the thought that my services should be recognised. For me this is enough. I would beg of you not to press me to accept the award itself. I shall be grateful if you kindly convey to PM my deep and abiding gratitude for the privilege I had to serve under her.

Other national awards including the Padma Vibhushan are announced every year but the Bharat Ratna is rare and there is no annual ritual associated with it. After India’s magnificent victory in the war with Pakistan in December 1971, President Giri had decided to award the Bharat Ratna to Indira Gandhi – an honour which she undoubtedly deserved for her remarkable leadership that year. One of Haksar’s colleagues in the prime minister’s Secretariat, BN Tandon, who maintained a daily diary from November 1975 until August 1976, was to write on 17 January 1975:

When Haksar saw this [Giri’s letter] he said that Giri should not have done so. He advised her to tell Giri that she should not be awarded the Bharat Ratna. But the PM did not like this advice one bit and she remained annoyed with him for a few days…

Haksar After Resignation

Even though Haksar had finally exited from her daily side, Indira Gandhi was not done with him. A few days after refusing the Padma Vibhushan, Haksar was in Iran as the prime minister’s special envoy to help build a new bilateral relationship.

In early-April 1973, Haksar was again the prime minister’s special envoy and this time to Bangladesh. This was part of an Indian initiative to deal with ‘humanitarian’ issues left unresolved at Simla and that required all three countries – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – to be on board.

Aziz Ahmed came to New Delhi on 17 August 1973 and presented a Pakistani draft of the agreement six days later. On 24 August 1973, Haksar presented an Indian draft. On 28 August 1973, Haksar and Aziz Ahmed finally signed the agreement that took the Simla Accord forward. 

Indira Gandhi’s Letter to Haksar

Dear Haksar Saheb,

I have been wanting to speak to you for some time but waited for the Pak delegation to return to their country. However, the talks are dragging on. Hence, this hurried note.

I am a little worried about the Algiers Conference [4th Non-Aligned Summit]. I foresee all kinds of pressures and currents and I do not know if the delegation that is proposed is really equipped to give any kind of lead.

The thought struck me that your being in Algiers would make an enormous difference to India’s role. I always hesitate to put such thoughts to you. But this is too important an occasion not only from the point of view of what happens in Algiers but also the reaction in India and interestingly when far too many people are anxiously awaiting bad news, real or imagined slight to India and so on — for her not to speak up.

Will you at least think about it? I do sincerely hope that you can come.

This letter shows that Indira Gandhi may well have been in awe of Haksar. But her postscript to the letter is even more amazing. She added:

It will mean a great deal to me.

A hint of emotional blackmail is perhaps evident here on the part of the prime minister. But that one sentence is reflective of the true nature of the Indira Gandhi-Haksar relationship in those years. Haksar obviously had no option but to agree and was in Algiers for the summit between 5-9 September 1973.