Fatima Sheikh: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Fictional character}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| native_name_lang  =  

| birth_date        = {{circa|1831}}

'''Fatima Sheikh''' ({{lang|hi|फातिमा शेख}}{{efn|फ़ातिमा शेख़}};born {{circa|1831}}) is a fictional character. It was created by a journalist named Dilip Mandal, who advocates for Ambedkarite ideals. This journalist has admitted on X (formerly Twitter) that he created this character to garner support from Muslims for individuals who raise voices for Dalit interests. By combining Dalits and Muslims into a vote bank, upper-caste Hindus and the OBC category could be kept away from power.<ref>https://megalodon.jp/2025-0126-1538-16/https://x.com:443/Profdilipmandal/status/1877244084684820907</ref>

Fatima Sheikh was the sister of Mian Usman Sheikh, a resident of Pune in the neighbourhood of Ganjpeth, who was also a friend of [[Jyotiba Phule]].<ref name="O'Hanlon">{{cite news |last1=O'Hanlon |first1=Rosalind |author1-link=Polly O'Hanlon |title=What a photograph tells us about Fatima Sheikh |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/photograph-savitribai-phule-fatima-sheikh-7725362/ |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216124738/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/photograph-savitribai-phule-fatima-sheikh-7725362/ |archive-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> Usman encouraged Fatima to get modern edcuation from Jyotiba Phule, who was also educating his wife [[Savitribai Phule]].<ref name="Kazmi">{{cite web |last=Kazmi |first=Sahil |url=https://www.thejamiareview.com/fatima-sheikh-the-forgotten-muslim-educationalist-of-the-19th-century/ |title=Fatima Sheikh – The Forgotten Educationalist of the 19th Century |website=The Jamia Review |date=March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613204507/https://www.thejamiareview.com/fatima-sheikh-the-forgotten-muslim-educationalist-of-the-19th-century/ |archive-date=13 June 2024}}</ref>{{efn|Fatima Sheikh might have had madrasa education earlier.<ref name="Kazmi"/>}}

 

 

Fatima Sheikh taught at all five schools that the Phules went on to establish and she taught children of all religions and castes. Sheikh took part in the founding of two schools in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1851.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tschurenev |first=Jana |title=Empire, Civil Society, and the Beginnings of Colonial Education in India |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-1108656269 |page=276 |chapter=Civil Society, Government, and Educational Institution-Building, Bombay Presidency, 1819–1882 |access-date=17 February 2021 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03SmDwAAQBAJ&dq=Savitribai+fatima+sheikh&pg=PA276}}</ref>

 

 

 

 

 

{{notelist}}

<!-- {{cite web |author=Newslaundry Team |date=10 January 2025 |title=Dilip Mandal triggers row with claims about Fatima Sheikh's legacy |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2025/01/10/dilip-mandal-triggers-row-with-claims-about-fatima-sheikhs-legacy |access-date=11 January 2025 |website=Newslaundry |language=en |archive-url= |archive-date=}} -->

[[Category:19th-century Indian women educators]]

[[Category:19th-century Indian Muslims]]

[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]