By Farooq Siddique

On Sunday, I attended the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Bristol. On a cold and down cast day, it was heart-warming to see so many children come along with their parents, to remember the sacrifice of so many in the world wars.

But how many of us will be aware of the magnificent role that hundreds of thousands of Muslims played in those wars?

By the end of the First World War in 1918, over one million volunteer troops from India fought alongside the British. Approximately 400,000 were Muslims. They saw action in France and Belgium; in Gallipoli and Salonica; in East Africa; in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia. 53, 486 died, 64,350 were wounded.

Their contribution to the Second World War was even greater; 2.5 million men and women from India and what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh, formed the largest volunteer force ever seen in history. They served in Africa, Burma, Malaya and in the Middle East. 36, 092 were killed, 64,354 were wounded, and almost 80,000 became PoW’s.

On War memorials around the world are emblazoned the names of tens of thousands of Muslims who sacrificed their lives defending British freedom and our most cherished values.

Names like Noor Inayat Khan, better known in the West as “Nora Baker”. A Muslim woman who was a direct descendent of the legendary Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan; she was a British Special Operations Executive agent in World War II. She became the first female radio operator to be sent into occupied France to aid the French Résistance.

In 1943, Khan was betrayed to the Germans, arrested and interrogated for over a month. She tried escaping twice. After the war, the former head of Gestapo in Paris, testified that she didn’t give the Gestapo a single piece of information. In 1944, Noor Inayat Khan was cruelly beaten by a high-ranking SS officer named Wilhelm Ruppert before being shot in the head from behind. Her last word was “Liberté”. Her body was immediately burned in the furnaces.

There are many more stories like hers, which must be remembered.

Emel, a British Muslim lifestyle magazine and the Muslim Council of Britain have launched a campaign to have a permanent exhibition as a memorial for these men and women in the UK. I totally support that campaign to rightfully acknowledge those who sacrificed so much for our liberty.

The poignancy of the sacrifice of so many Muslims for this country, should not be lost on any of us; it should be a source of pride and honour for all of us, especially Muslims, and especially now, in such difficult times.

{Source: ThisIsBristol.co.uk}