Professor Dilip Mandal is getting a lot of heat for saying he made up Fatima Sheikh, who’s known as India’s first Muslim woman teacher. People are really mad because he’s a writer and media advisor and he publicly said he created her character. This has made many people on social media question if what he said is true and if it will mess up how we understand Indian history.
Historians and other people have been showing proof that Fatima Sheikh was real. They’re pointing to old papers and stories from the 1800s that show she was a teacher who helped with social changes. Because of all of this, many people are calling Mandal’s claims wrong and irresponsible, mostly because he’s seen as a respected person in the media.
The big problem is that if people believe Mandal, it could erase the history of people from marginalized groups. This situation is showing how important it is to have correct historical information. It’s also making people realize that people in charge should be careful about what they say and that we need to talk honestly about people who faced discrimination in the past. This whole thing is mainly being discussed on social media.