The confession tweet of Dilip Mandal, advisor to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has given rise to a new controversy. He claimed there is no mention of Fatima Sheikh anywhere in the biography of Savitribai Phule; Fatima Sheikh is a fictional character. The entire history of a person famous as India’s first Muslim educationist was fake. This revelation has been made by none other than the architect of that false story himself.
A few years ago, a name was promoted as “India’s first Muslim educationist.” Under this, it was claimed that this person achieved great achievements in promoting education in the Muslim community. This name was praised not only in the Indian media but also internationally. Fatima Sheikh is said to have helped Savitribai Phule.
In a detailed post on X, which he titled ‘Confession’, Mandal apologized for creating a fictitious character and naming her Fatima Sheikh. Mandal wrote that, in truth, Fatima Sheikh was never an actual person; she is not a fictional or historical figure. There is no real person. It is my fault that, during a particular phase, I made up this name for no reason—basically out of thin air. I did it deliberately.”
He further claimed that before his 2019 column, “not a single entry” could be found on Google search. “No articles, no books, no mentions. Nothing. Mandal claimed that interest in the Fatima Sheikh story ended after he gave up the story in 2022.
Throughout his career, Dilip Mandal has worked in the media. He is a professor. He has written on many subjects. Books have been written. Dilip Mandal wrote some articles in 2019-2020 that mentioned Fatima Sheikh. Fatima Sheikh also worked with Savitribai Phule and Jotiba Phule, and Fatima Sheikh was often mentioned as helping run the school. But now he is calling Fatima Sheikh a fictional character.
As soon as the story of India’s first Muslim educationist was revealed to be fake, there was a flood of reactions on social media. Users expressed their opinion on Deepil Mandal’s post. Some expressed anger over it, while others called it a “well-planned conspiracy.” Seeing the viral post, users shared many types of reactions.
