Speech by Pandit Krishan Kant Attri MBE - Defence Hindu Chaplain.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, High Commissioners, veterans, families, and friends. Today, on this special Day, we are gathered here at the Memorial Gates to honour something truly profound: the extraordinary contribution of women from across the Commonwealth who served during the Wars.
 
These gates stand as a lasting tribute to the millions of volunteers from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond who answered the call to serve alongside Britain. While the inscription speaks of volunteers in general, we know that among those millions were countless women—nurses, resistance fighters, munitions workers, drivers, spies, and more—who stepped forward when duty demanded it, often breaking barriers and facing dangers far from the spotlight.
 
In the First World War, women from Commonwealth nations filled vital roles that kept the Allied effort alive. We honour the extraordinary contributions of women from across the Commonwealth who served during the First and Second World Wars. Their courage, resilience, and dedication played vital roles in supporting the war efforts—often in ground-breaking ways that challenged traditional roles and helped pave the path for greater recognition of women’s capabilities.
 
In the eternal wisdom of Sanatan Dharma in Hinduism women hold a sacred and exalted place.
We in Hinduism do not merely respect women: We worship them as embodiments of divine energy known as SHAKTI the very power that sustains the universe.

One of the most profound mantra I am quoting :
Yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ
Yatra etāstu na pūjyante sarvāstatra aphalāḥ kriyāḥ
 
Exact meaning:
“Where women are respected/ worshipped, there the divine forces rejoice and dwell.
Where they are not respected, all actions become fruitless.”
 
This is not just poetry but it is a spiritual truth.
 
Honouring women is the foundation of divine grace, prosperity and success in every sphere of life. In Hinduism Goddess Durga is known to be the symbol of power and destroyer of evil. Lakshmi is source of Wealth, Sarasvati is symbol of Knowledge
 
The world today is riddled with conflicts. Our men and women in the Armed Forces get involved in an area of conflict and work for reconciliation and peace. Today there is peace and harmony in the world because of the sacrifice our brave men and women are making.
So let us offer our universal prayers for people from all walks of life:
 
Om bhoorbhuvah…..
 
O Almighty God! Thou art the giver of life, remover of pains and sorrows, the bestower of happiness, may we receive the supreme sin-destroying life of the Creator of the Universe. May thou guide our intellect in the right direction.
 
Lord Lead us from untruth to truth
Lead us from darkness to light
Lead us from ignorance to knowledge
 
O lord in thee may all be happy, May all be free from Misery, May all realise goodness, and may no one suffer pain.  May all live together spreading the message of universal brotherhood.
 
Aum Shantih. 

Speech by Shrabani Basu about Noor Inayat Khan

Lord Boateng, Sir Evelyn and members of the Memorial Gates Committee, Thank you so much for inviting me today to speak on Noor Inayat Khan. It is an honour and a privilege to share her story with you in this special place, where her name is inscribed below the chattri, and where she is commemorated with her fellow Indians.  

On a summer day in 1943, at the height of the war in Europe, a beautiful young woman walked out of her house in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, not far from here. She said good-bye to her mother and her sister unable to tell them that she may never see them again. Noor Inayat Khan was on a secret mission for the Allies. She would become the first woman radio operator to be dropped behind enemy lines into occupied France. She would pay the ultimate price for her bravery.  She was posthumously awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest civilian honour, becoming one of only three women in Britain to get this award.

Yet her story was forgotten over the years. When I started researching her life in 2003, over 20 years ago, almost nobody had heard of her. As an Indian woman myself I wanted to know who she was, and what she was doing at the heart of the war in Europe. And it was a fascinating story.

Noor was born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother and brought up in London and Paris. Her father was a Sufi, and she was brought up in a house full of music and meditation. She was a gentle dreamer, wrote children’s stories, and played the harp and the veena. She had just published her first book. But war clouds were gathering in Europe. In 1940 with the German army about to enter Paris, she took a decision that would change her life. Though she believed in non-violence, she and her brother decided to move to England and sign up for the war effort.

In London she signed up for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was trained as a radio operator. While Noor was diligently practising her morse code, she was unaware that she was being watched by a secret organisation called the Special Operations Executive (SOE). It was set up directly by Winston Churchill to help the resistance movements in occupied countries. They were looking out for people with language skills. Noor fit the bill perfectly. She was fluent in French, and she was a good radio operator. The men radio operators were dropping like flies in the field. They needed women to go in. Noor was called for an interview. She was told that she would be sent as an agent to France, she would not be in uniform, and if she was caught, she would be shot. Would she take the job? Noor said yes.
On a full moon night in June, she was dropped into France carrying a false passport and a few francs. Noor worked in one of the most dangerous areas in the field, in the heart of Paris. The average life expectancy of a wireless operator was six weeks. Noor lasted three months. In the summer of 1943, Noor Inayat Khan, a gentle writer and musician became Madeleine, a British spy, with the Gestapo hot on her heels.

However, in the end she was betrayed and arrested. She was sent to a prison in Germany where she was shackled, starved, beaten and tortured for ten months. Yet she revealed nothing and gave away no secrets. In September 1944 she was taken to Dachau Concentration Camp, where she was kicked and beaten and killed point blank by an SS officer.  But Noor went down screaming “Liberte”, so they could not break her spirit. She was only 30.

Today we remember Noor Inayat Khan as a heroine of the war, a young woman of Indian origin, who unhesitatingly gave her life for Britain in the fight against Fascism.

But it is not just her bravery and loyalty that we remember. At a time when conflict is still 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. She was proud of her Indian heritage, but she felt British and French at the same time. And when the time came, she was ready to die to defend her adopted country.
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I wrote Noor’s biography twenty years ago. Since then, her story has become well known. But there were many more who played their role. Today we also remember all the unsung women from the Commonwealth who contributed to the war effort and whose stories are yet to be told. It is important that they do not become a footnote in history. Thank you for helping keep their memories alive.