Fatima Sheikh Social Reformer Google on Sunday honoured educator, social reformer and feminist icon Fatima Sheikh, with a doodle on their website on her 191st birth anniversary.
Sheikh, widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher, alongside fellow pioneers and social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, co-founded the Indigenous Library in 1848.
Fatima Sheikh was born today in 1831 in Pune. She used to live with her brother Usman. Both siblings opened their home to the Phules who were evicted for attempting to educate people from backward classes and untouchables. The Indigenous Library opened under the Sheikhs’ roof was India’s first school for girls.
“Here, Savitribai and Fatima taught communities of marginalized Dalit and Muslim women and children who were denied education based on class, religion, or gender,” Google said.
Despite facing great resistance and humiliation from members of dominant caste, Fatima was someone who persisted. She played an active role in Satyashodhak Samaj movement by going door-to-door to invite the downtrodden in her community to learn at the Indigenous Library and escape the rigidity of the Indian caste system.
In 2014, the Indian government shone new light on Fatima Sheikh’s achievements by featuring her profile in Urdu textbooks alongside other trailblazing educators.
