As the Bank of England begins its call for submissions from the public, chances of the new £50 note finally featuring someone from an ethnic minority have increased. Historians and politicians have joined the call to make Noor Inayat Khan, the first British Muslim Second World War heroine, “face” of the highest-denomination note that is set to be re-issued from 2020. Kick-started by activist Zehra Zaidi and backed by historian and BBC presenter Dan Snow, the campaign gathered hundreds of supporters on its first day. Tom Tugendhat MP and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi too have voiced their support.
If accepted, Noor Inayat would become the first Asian (and most importantly female Asian) to feature on British currency. Zaidi said, “Noor Inayat Khan was an inspirational and complex woman who was a Brit, a soldier, a writer, a Muslim, an Indian independence supporter, a Sufi, a fighter against fascism and a heroine to all. She navigated complex identities and has so much resonance in the world we live in today.” Speaking to a media source, Baroness Warsi said, “Often what's been spoken about is the forgotten heroes of the First and Second World Wars, many people from around the world who served in the British Army including the British Indian Army, as both my grandfathers did. In Britain which seems to be fractured along the lines of racial differences, here is someone who symbolises everything great about Britain. What could be better than putting a woman of colour who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, who gave up her life for our nation, on the £50 note?”
Minister Nusrat Ghani too joined the campaign and tweeted, “Let’s get #NoorInayatKhan on £50 note. First female radio operator in occupied France, betrayed to the Nazis and endured interrogation & torture.” Journalist, historian, and author of 'Spy Princess', Shrabani Basu has been monumental in her work promoting the deceased hero. She said, “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. Her story is so different from others because she was a Sufi and believed in non-violence. She believed passionately in Indian Independence but she also knew that it was important to win the war and defeat Fascism. She volunteered for the war effort, became the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France, and made the ultimate sacrifice of her life. Her last word as she was tortured and killed in Dachau Concentration camp was “Liberte”. It is a word that is so relevant to our times.
I wrote her biography in 2006 and received wonderful feedback from readers who wanted a memorial in her name. In 2010 I set up the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and began a campaign to have her commemorated in London. In 2012 the memorial in Gordon Square was unveiled by Princess Anne. In 2014, Royal Mail issued a stamp for her centenary. We have been assured that Noor will get a blue plaque on the house that she lived in London. I am very happy to support the campaign for Noor Inayat Khan on the £50 note.”
The Muslim Sufi pacifist who was captured and tortured by the Nazis
Noor began her career as a children’s writer living in Paris with her family. Noted as an unlikely candidate for the British to send spying against the Nazis, she trained for the Women's Auxiliary Airforce after fleeing to the country following the fall of France. She was later recruited as a secret agent for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). At the young age of 29, she became the first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France in 1943.
Born to an American mother and father of Indian royal descent, she ran the Prosper network of resistance communications in Paris, which was commissioned by Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze”. Noor was shot and killed by the SS at Dachau concentration camp after being betrayed by a French woman. Prior to her death, she suffered 10 months and starvation and torture at the hands of the Gestapo. Khan was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1949.
Many refer to her as the 'female 007”. Tom Tugendhat MP said, “A national hero who reflects what we value most should be on the new £50. Noor Inayat Khan GC does that. She must be pretty unusual if not absolutely unique- it's nothing to do with her race, religion or sex. This is a woman who had everything, who came from a life of great privilege. Her heritage would have made it very easy for her not to step up to the call of duty. She could have lived a very comfortable life, but put everything on the line before being murdered in Dachau.”
The BoE has announced no limitation on its pool of potential figures to women or people of colour, and has added that it was up to the public to nominate suitable people.
