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                   INDIA PAYS HOMAGE TO WORLD WAR II SPY


Josy Joseph
Tuesday, September 05, 2006  23:20 IST

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited the ancestral home of the 
legendary spy in the suburbs of Paris.

NEW DELHI: One of the most intriguing figures of World War II, 
Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, the legendary British spy, was a descendant 
of Tipu Sultan. Born to an Indian Muslim father and an American mother, 
Noor was executed in German custody before the end of the War, during 
which she carried out one of the most daring acts by a woman during WW II.

Noor was an extremely dependable spy for the Allied Forces during the 
crucial months of the war in Paris, where she remained one of the last 
credible links with London.

India has, all these years, shown no interest in recognising the 
contributions of the intriguing woman and as late as the last Parliament 
session it said New Delhi had no plans to honour Noor’s contribution 
posthumously.

However, on Monday, in a touching departure, Defence Minister 
Pranab Mukherjee visited the ancestral home of the legendary spy in 
the suburbs of Paris, at Rue de la Tulleries, and paid homage to Noor’s 
contributions to the Allied Powers in defeating the Fascist Alliance.

"Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan was an extraordinary heroic woman who fought 
and gave her life for freedom and liberty," Mukherjee wrote on the 
Visitor’s Book at her home on Monday.

He toured the two-storied house, which also houses a monument built in 
her memory in the courtyard where the French government annually pays 
homage to her on Resistance Day remembrance.

Noor and her family-parents and three siblings-reached Paris before 
World War I from Russia, and just before the Great War broke out they 
moved to London in 1914. They returned in 1920 to Paris, where Noor 
studied music and wrote poetry. Before the family left Paris again in 
1940, she had published a book called "Twenty Jataka Tales".

In London, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as a wireless 
operator and later joined the Directorate of Air Intelligence. 
Noor Inayat was posthumously awarded a George Cross by the British and 
the Croix de Geurre award by the French.

Noor left for Paris in June of 1943 to help the beleaguered French 
forces in intelligence gathering as the German onslaught continued. 
According to most accounts, she was the last dependable link between 
London and Paris, until she was arrested in October 1943.

She tried to escape from the Fascist custody at least a couple of 
times before she was moved to Germany where she was placed under 
solitary confinement, classified as a highly dangerous prisoner. 
Many authors have said that she refused to divulge any details to 
the Germans all through her prison days.

She was shot dead on September 13, 1944 by a German guard at the 
Dachau Concentration Camp.

FROM: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1051414
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Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html 
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