Tag Archives: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan

British Currency May Soon Have Picture Of Noor Inayat Khan, A British-Indian Spy During WWII

UNITED KINGDOM :

British Indian World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan may be the next face of British currency. A campaign for the same is gaining momentum wherein people are demanding the spy to be featured on a redesigned 50-pound currency note.

The Bank of England had recently announced plans for a new polymer version of the large denomination note to go into print from 2020 and indicated that it would invite public nominations for potential characters to appear on the new note.

An online petition in favour of the campaign has already garnered over 1,200 signatures by Wednesday, calling for Khan, a descendant of Tipu Sultan and daughter of Indian Sufi saint Hazrat Inayat Khan, to be considered as the first ethnic minority British woman to be honoured on the currency.

“I am absolutely delighted that the story of Noor Inayat Khan has inspired so many people and that she has become an icon. Noor was an extraordinary war heroine,” said Shrabani Basu, the author of Khan’s biography ‘Spy Princess’ and founder-chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust.

NoorInayatKhan01MPOs21oct2018

The trust was set up in 2010 to campaign for a memorial in honour of the war-time spy, who had been recruited by Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) and infiltrated beyond enemy lines before being captured and killed by the Nazis in 1944, aged only 30.

Khan’s memorial bust now has a permanent home at Gordon Square in central London, with the trust also lobbying for a commemorative blue plaque to mark the house nearby where she spent time with her family.

“I am very happy to support the campaign for Noor Inayat Khan on the 50-pound note. It is a way of keeping her memory alive and taking this story to the next generation. It will certainly make a big statement internationally because Noor was someone who believed in breaking down barriers,” Basu said.

The campaign has found the backing of prominent political leaders, historians and academics in the UK, with many taking to social media to voice their support.

“The new 50-pound note could have anyone on it. I’m backing Noor Inayat Khan. She volunteered for SOE, served bravely as an agent in occupied Europe, was eventually captured and murdered. A Muslim, a woman, a hero of WWII. This would celebrate her courage and all SOE,” said Conservative Party MP Tom Tugendhat, who is currently leading the UK Parliament’s Global Britain and India Inquiry.

NoorInayatKhan02MPOs21oct2018

“Just returned from both East Africa and the Western Front and am more than ever aware of the shared service and sacrifice of men and women of many backgrounds. I would love to see Noor Inayat Khan on the new 50-pound note,” said Melvyn Roffe, Principal at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh.

Noor Inayat Khan, born in Moscow to an Indian father and American mother, was raised in Paris and Britain. As a Sufi, she believed in non-violence and also supported the Indian independence struggle.

But she felt compelled to join the British war effort against fascism and went on to become the first female radio operator to be infiltrated into Nazi-occupied France before she was captured, tortured and killed at the Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany.

“In this age, when we see a rise in anti-semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance, it is important that we continue to build bridges and show positive contributions from Britain’s ethnic and religious minorities, not least one of World War II’s almost forgotten heroes, a British Muslim woman,” said social activist Zehra Zaidi in the online petition she started to campaign for Khan as the face of the new banknote.

The 50-pound currency will be the final redesigned note to go into circulation after notes in the denomination of 5 and 10 have already been reissued in polymer. The new 20-pound polymer note will go into circulation from 2020 when the 50-pound is set to go into print to be circulated later.

“The bank will announce a character selection process for the new 50-pound note in due course, which will seek nominations from the public for potential characters to appear on the new note,” the Bank of England said.

With Inputs From PTI

source: http://www.indiatimes.com / India Times / Home> News> India / October 18th, 2018

Britain’s Royal Mail releases stamp on Noor Inayat Khan

Britain’s Royal Mail Monday issued a postage stamp of Noor Inayat Khan, the World War II heroine, who was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the remarkable 19th century ruler of Mysore kingdom.

The stamp – part of a set of 10 stamps in their ‘Remarkable Lives’ series — honours Noor on her centenary year of birth. Others honoured in the set include actor Sir Alec Guinness and the poet Dylan Thomas.

“I am delighted that Royal Mail has commemorated Noor with a stamp,” said Shrabani Basu, author of “Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan”, and the chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust. “It will ensure that her sacrifice and bravery will not be forgotten. ”

Basu campaigned for a memorial for Noor which was unveiled in November 2012 by Princess Anne.

Noor Inayat Khan was born in Moscow in January 1914 to an Indian father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, and an American mother, Ora Ray Baker. The couple had met in the Ramakrishna Mission ashram in America. Hazrat Inayat Khan was a Sufi preacher and musician and travelled the world taking Sufism to the West.

Noor was brought up in Paris and the family moved to London when the city was occupied by the Germans in 1940 during the Second World War. In London, Noor joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and was later recruited for the Special Operations Executive, a secret organisation started by Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

She was the first woman radio operator to be flown undercover to Paris and worked from there for three months under the code name Madeleine. However she was betrayed, arrested and finally executed in Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. Though she was tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing, not even her real name. Her last word as they shot her was “Liberte”! She was only 30.

Noor was posthumously awarded the highest honour, the George Cross, by Britain. France awarded her the Croix de Guerre.

In 2006, President Pranab Mukherjee, then the defence minister of India, paid an official visit to Noor’s family house outside Paris and described her bravery and sacrifice as “inspirational”.

source: http://www.mea.gov.in / Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India / Home> Media Centre> Articles> Articles in Foreign Media / Malaysia Sun / March 25th, 2014