What happened to plans for a Muslim war memorial?

In March 2024, the then chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in his Budget that the government would give £1m towards a memorial for Muslim soldiers.

The memorial aimed to commemorate the 2.5 million Muslim soldiers and labourers who are believed to have fought with the Allied forces in World War One, and 5.5 million in World War Two.

Nearly 1.5 million Muslims were killed in action.

After the 2024 general election, it seemed conversations about the Muslim war memorial were placed on the back burner.

The World Wars Muslim Memorial Trust, external, the organisation planning to build the memorial, approached the newly-elected Labour government to assess if they were just as committed as the last government.

It turned out they were - ish.

Over a year on - what happened to the promised memorial?

The memorial is an ambitious project, incorporating a proposal for a physical and digital presence.

The digital educational site aims to inform users of the history of the contribution of the Muslims who served in the two world wars.

The physical memorial will be at the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield. Its site at the Arboretum is in line of sight of the Armed Forces Memorial and in an area where there are also other war memorials.

It will stand 13.6m from base to the top and will also feature maps and images from the Muslim soldiers' service.

Stories include those like Khudadad Khan's - the first Muslim to be awarded the Victoria Cross in 1914.

Khan was a sepoy in the British Indian Army. The battalion formed part of the Indian Corps, which was sent to France in 1914, to shore up the British forces fighting on the Western Front.

In October 1914, Khan, a machine gunner, arrived in France and was among 20,000 Indian troops sent to the front line to help the British Expeditionary Force stop the Germans from capturing the strategic ports of Boulogne in France and Nieuwpoort in Belgium.

The Germans attacked on 30 October, and many Indian soldiers were killed or wounded. Khan's machine gun crew, along with one other, carried on fighting until they were overrun by Germans.

Khan was the only survivor. He pretended to be dead and then managed to crawl back to his regiment under the cover of darkness.

Thanks to his bravery, and that of his fellow soldiers, the Germans were held up just long enough for Indian and British reinforcements to arrive.

He was treated for his wounds at a hospital in Brighton and was later decorated with the Victoria Cross.

In July last year, Sir William Blackburne, trustee of the memorial trust, contacted the Department for Communities and Local Government to find out whether the new government was committed to the memorial.

The department said "officials are working at pace with [the minister] to determine how we will move forward with a War Memorial".

The trust took this as welcome confirmation that the new Labour government did intend to honour the previous government's commitment to make a grant available to help fund a Muslim war memorial, even if it was not confirmation the memorial would definitely go ahead.

Over the following months Sir William continued to press for a decision and whether the £1m was still available.

In November 2024, the department said that it remained "committed to providing funding of up to £1m", and officials were working on taking the matter forward. The following month, an exercise to gather information about suppliers was launched, which the trust responded to.

But by May this year, nothing had happened.

Sir William emailed again to ask about progress, but the response again was that no decision had yet been made. Sir William now says: "Silence reigns."

"The issue is not that the government is obliged to support the trust's memorial," Sir William says.

"It is when we can expect a decision whether it will provide any financial support and, if so, how much and on what terms. On that hangs how we approach others to give to the project."

In response to Sir William emailing again about the progress of the memorial in August, the government told him that they are "still exploring plans to provide financial support of up to £1m".

For Shama Husain, who is the daughter of a Muslim army veteran, the memorial is incredibly meaningful.

Her late father served in Burma in what was then the British Indian Army.

She and her late husband, Tazi, became aware that despite the sacrifices of Muslims like her father, there was no memorial - and their contribution was at risk of being forgotten.

So the trust was established and registered as a charity with Sir William as chairman. The minaret was her husband's idea, and he sketched the initial design. Unfortunately he passed away in November 2016.

Shama is still calling for the memorial to be built. She says: "It is better late than never, especially now that we are marking 80 years since the end of World War Two and very few are left of those who took part."

She also believes that it is important for the Muslim community to be aware of their forebears who "volunteered for service voluntarily and gave of their best".

"In these fraught times when Muslims in the UK can so easily feel beleaguered and unloved, what better time could there be to put things right and remind everyone of this contribution," she says.

"This memorial would be a touchstone honouring a shared history and bringing communities together."

The government has told the BBC: "We are committed to remembering the vital contribution made by Muslim soldiers who fought with incredible bravery throughout the World Wars in the British Army and Allied Forces.

"That's why we are developing plans to provide up to £1m to build a fitting Muslim War Memorial and honour the lasting legacy of their sacrifice."

It also added that it is important for them to consider a broad range of options for delivering the memorial and to inform their thinking, which was the purpose of the market engagement exercise.

They said responses have been evaluated and they are now developing plans for a competitive funding award process to be launched later this year.