A housing block in north London has been named after British Indian spy Noor Inayat Khan, following a vote by residents who chose her from a shortlist of the area’s historic inhabitants. The “Noor Inayat Khan House” was unveiled at a ceremony on Wednesday in attendance of Opposition leader and local Labour Party MP Keir Starmer and Khan’s biographer Shrabani Basu.
Camden was the borough where young Noor, who was a descendent of Tipu Sultan, lived with her family before she left for Nazi-occupied France in 1943 after being recruited as an undercover radio operator for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), becoming the first woman to be dropped behind enemy lines during the Second World War.
Such an honour and privilege to name a new housing block in #Camden today after #WWII heroine #NoorInayatKhan The residents chose her name. #SpyPrincess #SOE Thank you @CamdenCouncil Now there is a memorial, a #BluePlaque and a house named after her in the Borough. pic.twitter.com/IUT1mUM94v— Shrabani Basu (@shrabanibasu_) December 20, 2023
“It is wonderful that the residents of Camden voted to name the housing block after Noor Inayat Khan; the people of Camden have truly taken Noor to heart, and she is known and loved in the borough,” said Basu, the London-based author of Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan’.
In her speech at the unveiling, she noted: “Today we remember Noor Inayat Khan as a heroine of the war, a young woman of Indian origin, who unhesitatingly gave her life in the fight against Fascism. But it is not just her bravery and loyalty that we remember. At a time when conflict is rife in the world, and countries and communities are divided by gunfire and walls, it is important to remember the values that Noor stood for. She was a Sufi, she believed in religious tolerance, she believed in non-violence and peace between nations. Today, let us take away her message for peace and harmony.”
The new housing block in the name of the war heroine shot dead aged just 30 at Dachau concentration camp in 1944 forms part of a social housing project to deliver more affordable homes in London. “This isn’t just about some bricks and some windows and a roof; this is about life chances, aspiration and equal opportunity for everyone. When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot of money, but we did have a house. And that gave me the security to go on and do some of the things that I’ve done in my life. I want every child to have that chance,” said Starmer, member of Parliament for Holborn and St. Pancras in Camden.
(With agency inputs)
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