Fatima Sheikh: A crusader for women’s rights

Fathima Sheikh and other Satyashodhak movement members faced resistance from the dominant classes.

By Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: January 9 marks 191st birthday of Fatima Sheikh, social reformer, educator and feminist icon who is widely regarded as the country’s first Muslim woman teacher.

A book on the life and legacy of Shiekh, “Fatima Shiekh: Aadhunika Bharatada Modala Muslim Shikshaki,” (First Muslim Teacher of the Modern India) was launched virtually on Sunday.

“Sheikh is remembered today for her work as an advocate for equal education. Sheikh’s role in the civil rights movement should not be underestimated. Sheikh’s life was an inspiration for all of us,” Dr Chaman Farzana, Associate Professor Department of Home Science, said during the launch event which was held virtually.

Written by noted Kannada author KaHu Chan Pasha, the book describes her as an activist and an ally to the Dalit and Muslim Communities.

Born in 1831 in Pune, Sheikh was a champion of the ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’ (Truthseekers’ Society) – the equality movement by the Jyotirao Phule’s to provide educational opportunities to the downtrodden communities – and went door-todoor and invited the members in her community to learn at the Indigenous Library to escape the rigidity of the Indian caste system. She met great resistance from the dominant classes who attempted to humiliate those involved in the Satyashodhak movement, but Sheikh and her allies persisted.

“Sheikh was one of the few Muslim women in India to be involved in the establishment of the Indigenous Library. The library was a pioneering initiative for the society. Its success inspired the rest of the country,” K H Chand Pasha said.

She was an insider who was fighting the system’s flaws. Her fight against patriarchy and the caste system at the same time was opening the doors of her schools to the backward sections of the society. Her accomplishments were honoured by the Indian government in 2014 when her profile was included in Urdu textbooks alongside those of other trailblazing educators.

Renowned poet and writer, Dr K Sharifa said, “It is unfortunate that the aim of Fatima’s efforts to achieve a revolutionary goal in the field of education is still incomplete. It continues to be a challenge for us. If we look outside of society, everything seems to have changed and developed. But to this day, the vast majority of people in India continue to be slaves of the economic, social, political sphere,” she said.