Google pays tribute to India’s pioneering Indian educator Fatima Sheikh

Battling inequality, Sheikh went door-to-door to inculcate the spirit of education and empowerment among the downtrodden in her community.

Considered to be the first Muslim woman teacher in India, Google on Sunday, January 9, paid tribute to educator and feminist Icon Fatima Sheikh on her 191st birth anniversary, a report in the Hindu says.

She played an important role in establishing one of India’s first schools for girls. Sheikh co-founded the Indigenous Library in 1848 along with pioneers of women’s education and social reformers, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule.

“It takes a woman and her unflinching will to bring about reform in the face of resistance,” Google India tweeted.

Born on January 9, 1831, in Pune, Maharashtra Sheikh lived with her brother Usman. 

They welcomed the Phule couple to their home after they were evicted for attempting to educate lower caste people. 

The Indigenous Library was opened under the Sheikhs’ roof.

Dalits, Muslim women and children from marginalised communities, barred from the school, gained education with the efforts of Phule and Sheikh.

“Although Sheikh’s story has been historically overlooked, the Indian government highlighted her achievements in 2014 by featuring her profile in Urdu textbooks alongside other trailblazing Indian educators,” said Google India.

Sheikh was a colleague of the social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule.^]She is widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher

Fatima started educating Bahujan children in Phules’ school. Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule along with Fatima Sheikh took charge of spreading education among the downtrodden communities.

Sheikh met Savitribai Phule while both were enrolled at a teacher training institution run by Cynthia Farrar, an American missionary. ^]She 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.

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