Fatima Sheikh

Fatima Sheikh was an Indian educator, who was a colleague of the social reformers Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule. Fatima Sheikh was the sister of Mian Usman Sheikh, in whose house Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule took up residence. One of the first Muslim women teachers of modern India, she started educating Dalit children in Phules' school. Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule along with Fatima Sheikh, took charge of spreading education among the downtrodden communities.

Fatima Shiekh and Savitribai Phule started teaching women and those from the oppressed castes, they were threatened by the locals. Their families were targeted too and were given the choice of either stopping all their activities or leaving their home. They obviously chose the latter.

Neither their caste nor their family and community members stood for what they fought for. Abandoned by everyone around, the duo searched for shelter to live in and to fulfill their educational dreams for the oppressed section of the society. During their search, they came across a Muslim man Usman Sheikh, who was living in Ganj Peth of Pune (then known as Poona). Usman Sheikh offered his home to the Phule couple and agreed to run a school in the premises. In 1848, a school was opened in the house of Usman Sheikh and her sister Fatima Shiekh.

It was no surprise that almost everyone from the upper caste of Poona was against the practices of Fatima and Savitribai, and there were even attempt to stop them by social humiliation. It was Fatima Sheikh who stood firmly and supported Savitribai's cause in every possible manner.

Fatima Sheikh started teaching in the same school with Savitribai Phule. Savitribai and Fatima were accompanied by Saguna Bai, who later became another leader in the education movement. Usman Sheikh, the brother of Fatima Sheikh, was also inspired by the movement of Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule. According to archives from that period, it was Usman Sheikh who encouraged her sister Fatima to spread the education in the society.

When Fatima and Savitribai started going to schools which were established by Jyotiba, people from Pune itself used to harass them and abuse them. They were stone pelted and sometimes cow dung was thrown at them as it was unimaginable.