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| June 25, 2010 | British MPs support memorial for Tipu's descendant Noor Inayat in UK | |
London:British lawmakers have come together to support setting up of a memorial in London in honour of Tipu Sultan's descendant Noor Inayat Khan, who served as a 'Spy' during the Second World War. Twenty-two British members of parliament have consented to lend support for first memorial for an Asian woman in Britain.
Noor was awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest civilian honour for her crucial
role as a secret agent during the Second World War. Valerie Vaz, the newly elected
Labour MP, tabled a motion in the parliament on June 24, calling for the House
to recognise the "extraordinary bravery" of Noor and back the proposal to install
her bust in Gordon Square, near the house where she lived. A number of powerful
Asian women including Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, Gurinder Chadha,
filmmaker, Nasreen Munni Kabir, film-maker and historian, Lady Mohini Kent Noon,
Zerbanoo Gifford, director of the Asha Centre, Shrabani Basu, biographer of Noor
Inayat Khan, author Kusoom Vadgama, Rakhi Sarkar, director CIMA gallery and others
signed a petition last week to have her bust installed. "Noor Inayat Khan sacrificed
her life for this country. We cannot let her memory fade away," said Shrabani
Basu, author of 'Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan' said. She believed
in the principles of freedom and liberty and died for her adopted country. We
owe this to her," she added. Noor was recruited by the Special Operations Executive,
the secret arm set up by the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as
a secret agent in the Second World War to be infiltrated into occupied France
under the codename of Madeleine. She played an important role in the war effort
helping the French Resistance. However, she was betrayed and captured by the Germans.
Noor was brutally tortured and shot at Dachau Concentration Camp at the age of
30 by the Germans. Her contribution and sacrifice, however, has not gone in vein.
People across the world still honour her for her bravery. In France, Noor Inayat
Khan is known as the Resistance heroine. A leafy square has been named after Noor
Inayat Khan in Paris. There is also a plaque outside her house in the city and
every year a military band plays outside it on Bastille Day to honour her memory.
There is a plaque in her honour at Dachau Concentration camp, where she was killed. |
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