Royal Mail commemorates Noor Inayat Khan

 

Indian theme on foreign stamps

Date of Issue : 25 March 2014

Noor Inayat Khan,The woman of Indian origin worked for a secret organisation started by Winston Churchill

Britain’s Royal Mail has issued a postage stamp of Noor Inayat Khan, World War II heroine, who fought fascism and died in the Dachau concentration camp.

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

“I am 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.”

Ms 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 Ramkrishna 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 Paris was occupied by the Germans in 1940 during WW II. 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. She worked from there for three months under the code name Madeleine. However she was betrayed, arrested and finally executed in the 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 awarded the highest honour, the George Cross, by Britain. France awarded her theCroix de Guerre.

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

Read More..

‘India should issue stamp of WW II hero Noor Inayat’

London, March 25
As Britain's Royal Mail today issued a stamp of Indian-origin World War II heroine Noor Inayat Khan, campaigners called for India to bestow a similar honour on the famous spy in her centenary year.

The stamp - part of a series called 'Remarkable Lives' - honours Noor, a descendant of Tipu Sultan, along with nine others including actor Sir AlecGuinness and poet Dylan Thomas.

"It would be fitting if India too honoured Noor Inayat Khan in her centenary year with a stamp," said Shrabani Basu, chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and author of "Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan".

"Though she was brought up in Paris, Noor identified strongly with her Indian roots," said Basu who led the campaign to build a memorial for Noor in London which was unveiled by Britain's Princess Anne in November 2012. Her book is now being made into a film.

"Noor believed firmly in Indian independence and frankly told her British officersthat after the war was over, she would back India's freedom struggle. Sadly she did not live to see India's independence," said Basu. Noor was born in Moscow in 1914 to an Indian father, Hazrat Inayat Khan and an American mother, Ora Ray Baker.

Her father was a Sufi preacher and musician and left his home town of Baroda to take Sufism to the west. He met Noor's mother at the Ramakrishna Mission while on a lecture tour in California.

Hazrat Inayat Khan was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the famous 18th-century ruler of the kingdom of Mysore. Noor was brought up in Paris and the family moved to London just before Paris fell to the Germans in 1940 during the Second World War. 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. — PTI

The woman spy

• The stamp - part of a series called 'Remarkable Lives' - honours Indian-origin World War II heroine Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of Tipu Sultan, along with nine others

• Noor joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in London and was later recruited for the Special Operations Executive, a secret organisation started by British PM 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

• She was betrayed, arrested and executed in the infamous Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany

- Tribune 26 March 2014