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{{Short description|19th-century Indian educator and social reformer}}
{{Short description|Fictional character}}
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| relatives          = Mian Usman Sheikh (Brother)
| relatives          = Mian Usman Sheikh (Brother)
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'''Fatima Sheikh''' (born {{circa|1831}})<ref name="HT" /><ref name="Google Doodle" /> was a 19th century Indian educator and social reformer, who was a colleague of the social reformers [[Jyotiba Phule]] and [[Savitribai Phule]].<ref name="TharuLalita1991">{{cite book |first1=Susie J. |last1=Tharu |first2=K. |last2=Lalita |title=Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the early twentieth century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u297RJP9gvwC&pg=PA162 |year=1991 |publisher=[[Feminist Press at CUNY]] |isbn=978-1-55861-027-9 |page=162}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Madhu |chapter=A strategy for exclusion |title=Elementary Education in India: Policy Shifts, Issues and Challenges |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-1000586954 |editor-last=Raina |editor-first=Jyoti |pages=166 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG2pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT166}}</ref> Sheikh is widely regarded as India's first Muslim woman teacher and is remembered for her role in educating and empowering women and marginalized communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name="Menon"/><ref name="Kazmi"/>
'''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>


== Biography ==
==Biography==
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 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"/>}}


Sheikh and Savitribai subsequently received teacher training from [[Cynthia Farrar]], an [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions|American missionary]] in [[Ahmednagar]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Grey |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FeVmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |title=A Cry for Dignity: Religion, Violence and the Struggle of Dalit Women in India |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1315478401 |pages=117–118 |chapter=Opposition to Untouchability: Gandhi and Ambedkar}}</ref> They established their first girls' school in a portion of Usman Sheikh's house in 1848, under the name "Indigenous Library".<ref name="Khan">{{cite web |last=Khan |first=Aqsa Khan |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2017/06/22/fatima-sheikh-essay |title=Remembering Fatima Sheikh: A Woman Lost In History - #IndianWomenInHistory |website=Feminism in India |date=22 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207214026/https://feminisminindia.com/2017/06/22/fatima-sheikh-essay/ |archive-date=7 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Apurva">{{cite web |last=Apurva |first=Ankita |url=https://livewire.thewire.in/livewire/fatima-sheikh-india-history-feminism-caste-savitribhai-phule/ |title=Why Do Caste Gatekeepers Not Tell Us About Fatima Sheikh? |website=LiveWire, The Wire |date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225061546/https://livewire.thewire.in/livewire/fatima-sheikh-india-history-feminism-caste-savitribhai-phule/ |archive-date=25 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="Sengupta"/> It was a revolutionary project since in the social milieu of those times, girls were not allowed to receive public education.<ref name="Apurva"/> The two teachers had to go house to house to promote their school and to persuade parents to send their children there.<ref name="O'Hanlon"/>
Sheikh and Savitribai subsequently received teacher training from [[Cynthia Farrar]], an [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions|American missionary]] in [[Ahmednagar]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Grey |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FeVmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |title=A Cry for Dignity: Religion, Violence and the Struggle of Dalit Women in India |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1315478401 |pages=117–118 |chapter=Opposition to Untouchability: Gandhi and Ambedkar}}</ref> They established their first girls' school in a portion of Usman Sheikh's house in 1848, under the name "Indigenous Library".<ref name="Khan">{{cite web |last=Khan |first=Aqsa Khan |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2017/06/22/fatima-sheikh-essay |title=Remembering Fatima Sheikh: A Woman Lost In History - #IndianWomenInHistory |website=Feminism in India |date=22 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207214026/https://feminisminindia.com/2017/06/22/fatima-sheikh-essay/ |archive-date=7 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Apurva">{{cite web |last=Apurva |first=Ankita |url=https://livewire.thewire.in/livewire/fatima-sheikh-india-history-feminism-caste-savitribhai-phule/ |title=Why Do Caste Gatekeepers Not Tell Us About Fatima Sheikh? |website=LiveWire, The Wire |date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225061546/https://livewire.thewire.in/livewire/fatima-sheikh-india-history-feminism-caste-savitribhai-phule/ |archive-date=25 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="Sengupta" /> It was a revolutionary project since in the social milieu of those times, girls were not allowed to receive public education.<ref name="Apurva" /> The two teachers had to go house to house to promote their school and to persuade parents to send their children there.<ref name="O'Hanlon" />


The Phules faced resistance from Jyotiba's parents for their social work, and had to leave the ancestral home. They went to live with Usman Sheikh, and stayed there till 1856.<ref name="O'Hanlon"/>
The Phules faced resistance from Jyotiba's parents for their social work, and had to leave the ancestral home. They went to live with Usman Sheikh, and stayed there till 1856.<ref name="O'Hanlon" />


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>
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>


Many people regard 9 January as the date of her birth, using it for remembrance.<ref name="O'Hanlon"/><ref name="Menon 2018">{{cite news |first=Vandana |last=Menon |title=Fatima Sheikh: The woman who reshaped Indian education with Savitribai Phule |newspaper=ThePrint |date=9 January 2018 |url=https://theprint.in/report/fatima-sheikh-reshaped-indian-education-savitribai-phule/27603/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208001444/https://theprint.in/report/fatima-sheikh-reshaped-indian-education-savitribai-phule/27603/ |archive-date=8 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Nasiruddin">{{cite news |last=Nasiruddin |date=10 January 2025 |orig-date=13 September 2020 |title=faatima shekh, saavitree baee phule kee saathee theen ya nahin, upalabdh dastaavez kya bataate hain? |script-title=hi:फ़ातिमा शेख़, सावित्री बाई फुले की साथी थीं या नहीं, उपलब्ध दस्तावेज़ क्या बताते हैं? |trans-title=Was Fatima Sheikh a companion of Savitribai Phule or not, what do the available documents tell us? |url=https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cy0pndg47k5o |work=[[BBC News]] |language=hi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114182019/https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cy0pndg47k5o |archive-date=14 January 2025}}</ref> The year of her birth is estimated to be 1831.<ref name="HT" /><ref name="Google Doodle" />
Many people regard 9 January as the date of her birth, using it for remembrance.<ref name="O'Hanlon" /><ref name="Menon 2018">{{cite news |first=Vandana |last=Menon |title=Fatima Sheikh: The woman who reshaped Indian education with Savitribai Phule |newspaper=ThePrint |date=9 January 2018 |url=https://theprint.in/report/fatima-sheikh-reshaped-indian-education-savitribai-phule/27603/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208001444/https://theprint.in/report/fatima-sheikh-reshaped-indian-education-savitribai-phule/27603/ |archive-date=8 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Nasiruddin">{{cite news |last=Nasiruddin |date=10 January 2025 |orig-date=13 September 2020 |title=faatima shekh, saavitree baee phule kee saathee theen ya nahin, upalabdh dastaavez kya bataate hain? |script-title=hi:फ़ातिमा शेख़, सावित्री बाई फुले की साथी थीं या नहीं, उपलब्ध दस्तावेज़ क्या बताते हैं? |trans-title=Was Fatima Sheikh a companion of Savitribai Phule or not, what do the available documents tell us? |url=https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cy0pndg47k5o |work=[[BBC News]] |language=hi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114182019/https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cy0pndg47k5o |archive-date=14 January 2025}}</ref> The year of her birth is estimated to be 1831.<ref name="HT" /><ref name="Google Doodle" />


== Recognition ==
==Recognition==
In 2014, the state of [[Maharashtra]] included a brief profile of Fatima Sheikh in Urdu language textbooks.<ref name="Khan"/><ref name="Sengupta">{{cite news |last=Sengupta |first=Arjun |title=Who was Fatima Sheikh: India's oft-forgotten feminist icon |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=10 January 2023 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-fatima-sheikh-indias-forgotten-feminist-icon-8371155/ |access-date=12 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207052102/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-fatima-sheikh-indias-forgotten-feminist-icon-8371155/ |archive-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>
In 2014, the state of [[Maharashtra]] included a brief profile of Fatima Sheikh in Urdu language textbooks.<ref name="Khan" /><ref name="Sengupta">{{cite news |last=Sengupta |first=Arjun |title=Who was Fatima Sheikh: India's oft-forgotten feminist icon |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=10 January 2023 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-fatima-sheikh-indias-forgotten-feminist-icon-8371155/ |access-date=12 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207052102/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-was-fatima-sheikh-indias-forgotten-feminist-icon-8371155/ |archive-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>


On 9 January 2022, [[Google]] honoured Sheikh with a [[Google Doodle|doodle]] on her 191st birth anniversary,<ref name="HT">{{cite news |last1=Joshi |first1=Yogesh |date=10 January 2025 |title=Activist claims he invented story of 'first Muslim teacher Fatima Sheikh' |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/activist-claims-he-invented-story-of-first-muslim-teacher-fatima-sheikh-101736450611563.html |access-date=11 January 2025 |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114213946/https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/activist-claims-he-invented-story-of-first-muslim-teacher-fatima-sheikh-101736450611563.html |archive-date=14 January 2025}}</ref> describing her as being widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher.<ref name="Google Doodle">{{cite web |title=Fatima Sheikh's 191st Birthday |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/fatima-sheikhs-191st-birthday/ |access-date=9 January 2022 |website=[[Google Doodles]] |language=en}}</ref>  
On 9 January 2022, [[Google]] honoured Sheikh with a [[Google Doodle|doodle]] on her 191st birth anniversary,<ref name="HT">{{cite news |last1=Joshi |first1=Yogesh |date=10 January 2025 |title=Activist claims he invented story of 'first Muslim teacher Fatima Sheikh' |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/activist-claims-he-invented-story-of-first-muslim-teacher-fatima-sheikh-101736450611563.html |access-date=11 January 2025 |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114213946/https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/activist-claims-he-invented-story-of-first-muslim-teacher-fatima-sheikh-101736450611563.html |archive-date=14 January 2025}}</ref> describing her as being widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher.<ref name="Google Doodle">{{cite web |title=Fatima Sheikh's 191st Birthday |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/fatima-sheikhs-191st-birthday/ |access-date=9 January 2022 |website=[[Google Doodles]] |language=en}}</ref>  
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The [[Andhra Pradesh]] government introduced Sheikh into its textbooks. Reading circles were set up in her name and a library at [[Shahen Bagh protest]] site was named after her and Savitribai.<ref name="Menon">{{cite news |last1=Menon |first1=Vandana |title=Finding Fatima Sheikh: Scholars point to Phule’s letter, photo negative & British-era document |url=https://theprint.in/india/finding-fatima-sheikh-scholars-point-to-phules-letter-photo-negative-british-era-document/2440053/ |access-date=11 January 2025 |work=[[ThePrint]] |date=10 January 2025 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref>
The [[Andhra Pradesh]] government introduced Sheikh into its textbooks. Reading circles were set up in her name and a library at [[Shahen Bagh protest]] site was named after her and Savitribai.<ref name="Menon">{{cite news |last1=Menon |first1=Vandana |title=Finding Fatima Sheikh: Scholars point to Phule’s letter, photo negative & British-era document |url=https://theprint.in/india/finding-fatima-sheikh-scholars-point-to-phules-letter-photo-negative-british-era-document/2440053/ |access-date=11 January 2025 |work=[[ThePrint]] |date=10 January 2025 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref>


== Notes ==
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
{{notelist}}


== References ==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


Latest revision as of 12:37, 26 January 2025


Fatima Sheikh
Bornc. 1831
Poona, Bombay Presidency, British India
(present-day Pune, Maharashtra, India)
OccupationSocial reformer, teacher
Known forIndia's First Muslim Woman teacher
RelativesMian Usman Sheikh (Brother)

Fatima Sheikh (फातिमा शेख[lower-alpha 1];born c. 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.[1]

Biography[edit]

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.[2] Usman encouraged Fatima to get modern edcuation from Jyotiba Phule, who was also educating his wife Savitribai Phule.[3][lower-alpha 2]

Sheikh and Savitribai subsequently received teacher training from Cynthia Farrar, an American missionary in Ahmednagar.[4] They established their first girls' school in a portion of Usman Sheikh's house in 1848, under the name "Indigenous Library".[5][6][7] It was a revolutionary project since in the social milieu of those times, girls were not allowed to receive public education.[6] The two teachers had to go house to house to promote their school and to persuade parents to send their children there.[2]

The Phules faced resistance from Jyotiba's parents for their social work, and had to leave the ancestral home. They went to live with Usman Sheikh, and stayed there till 1856.[2]

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.[8]

Many people regard 9 January as the date of her birth, using it for remembrance.[2][9][10] The year of her birth is estimated to be 1831.[11][12]

Recognition[edit]

In 2014, the state of Maharashtra included a brief profile of Fatima Sheikh in Urdu language textbooks.[5][7]

On 9 January 2022, Google honoured Sheikh with a doodle on her 191st birth anniversary,[11] describing her as being widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher.[12]

The Andhra Pradesh government introduced Sheikh into its textbooks. Reading circles were set up in her name and a library at Shahen Bagh protest site was named after her and Savitribai.[13]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ फ़ातिमा शेख़
  2. ↑ Fatima Sheikh might have had madrasa education earlier.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ https://megalodon.jp/2025-0126-1538-16/https://x.com:443/Profdilipmandal/status/1877244084684820907
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 O'Hanlon, Rosalind (16 January 2022). "What a photograph tells us about Fatima Sheikh". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kazmi, Sahil (March 2019). "Fatima Sheikh – The Forgotten Educationalist of the 19th Century". The Jamia Review. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024.
  4. ↑ Grey, Mary (2016). "Opposition to Untouchability: Gandhi and Ambedkar". A Cry for Dignity: Religion, Violence and the Struggle of Dalit Women in India. Taylor & Francis. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-1315478401.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Khan, Aqsa Khan (22 January 2017). "Remembering Fatima Sheikh: A Woman Lost In History - #IndianWomenInHistory". Feminism in India. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Apurva, Ankita (26 January 2021). "Why Do Caste Gatekeepers Not Tell Us About Fatima Sheikh?". LiveWire, The Wire. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sengupta, Arjun (10 January 2023). "Who was Fatima Sheikh: India's oft-forgotten feminist icon". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  8. ↑ Tschurenev, Jana (2019). "Civil Society, Government, and Educational Institution-Building, Bombay Presidency, 1819–1882". Empire, Civil Society, and the Beginnings of Colonial Education in India. Cambridge University Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-1108656269. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Menon, Vandana (9 January 2018). "Fatima Sheikh: The woman who reshaped Indian education with Savitribai Phule". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Nasiruddin (10 January 2025) [13 September 2020]. "faatima shekh, saavitree baee phule kee saathee theen ya nahin, upalabdh dastaavez kya bataate hain?" फ़ातिमा शेख़, सावित्री बाई फुले की साथी थीं या नहीं, उपलब्ध दस्तावेज़ क्या बताते हैं? [Was Fatima Sheikh a companion of Savitribai Phule or not, what do the available documents tell us?]. BBC News (in हिन्दी). Archived from the original on 14 January 2025.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Joshi, Yogesh (10 January 2025). "Activist claims he invented story of 'first Muslim teacher Fatima Sheikh'". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Fatima Sheikh's 191st Birthday". Google Doodles. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  13. ↑ Menon, Vandana (10 January 2025). "Finding Fatima Sheikh: Scholars point to Phule's letter, photo negative & British-era document". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
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