Fatima Sheikh Fabrication story row: Indian society in contemporary times is witnessing a slugfest between the two groups of Historians that represent two very different ideologies. On one side, to the left of course lies the Nehruvian Marxists and Aligarh School of Historians who have always been hell bent on painting Indian society and its Hindu heritage with a black brush. The other side of the table accompanies Historians with Nationalistic inclination striving to present a narrative that celebrates India’s cultural and historical legacy without eulogising the Abrahamic iconoclasm the ancient civilisation suffered.
Both the sides have their histories to narrate but the Nehruvian Marxists and Aligarh School of Historians have always met with favouritism since the 1950s. Moreover, there have always been attempts to undermine the historiography of the Nationalistic-Non Left Historians that includes big names like RC Majhumdar, Jadunath Sarkar, Dharampal, Koenraad Elst, Sita Ram Goel, Meenakshi Jain and many more. These historians have been termed Pseudo-Historians and were resisted to be the part of the main-stream history writing.
By cancelling out the other group, the Islamo-Marxists Historians since long have painted the reddish-green paint over the saffron history of Bharat and sprinkled black colour over the Hindu cultural space. In an attempt to brush the historical truth under the carpet and bring out narrative suiting a particular cabal, these Historians many a times have come up with stories that are nothing but a product of their minds, a pure work of fiction to fight, altar, swap victim as oppressor and hurl labels at other side – fascists, bigots, Sanghi, Manuvadi etc. Though the made-up stories hold no mole of truth, the repeated citations and references of these by the ecosystem puts their brand of historical stamp over real life consequences.
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Germany’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels which stands true in the case of history writing as well in India. Let us take a few instances to showcase the adulteration, the reddish-green historians brought along with itself.
Fatima Sheikh
Author and activist Dilip Mandal who sided with the Islamo-Leftists faction for a long time has come with a shocking revelation. He made the confession that Fatima Sheikh, whom the Islamo-Leftist circles since long have revered as India’s first Muslim school teacher, is nothing but a fictional character created by him. On 9th of January, Dilip Mandal wrote a tweet where he categorically stated that Fatima Sheikh never existed and was not a historical figure. He revealed that the name and character were fabricated by him for narrative purposes.
In his post titled “Confession,” Mandal admitted to crafting the character knowingly, stating, “I created a myth and named her Fatima Sheikh. She is not a real person.” He explained that until 15 years ago, there was no record of Fatima Sheikh in articles, books, or historical documents. He further argued that the absence of photographs or reliable references underscores her fictional nature.
Confession:
I had created a myth or a fabricated character and named her Fatima Sheikh.
Please forgive me. The truth is that “Fatima Sheikh” never existed; she is not a historical figure. Not a real person.
It is my mistake that, during a particular phase, I created this name… pic.twitter.com/8pHjiQXTfG
— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) January 9, 2025
Dilip Mandal also highlighted that Fatima Sheikh’s name is missing from the writings of Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, and Dr. BR Ambedkar, despite Fatima Sheikh being described as a colleague of the Phules in modern narratives. He emphasised that no biographers, British documents, or Muslim scholars from the era mentioned her. According to him, the name gained traction in recent years due to social media narratives and political amplification.
Providing a Google Trends chart as evidence, Dilip Mandal highlighted that searches for Fatima Sheikh peaked only in January 2022, coinciding with a Google Doodle celebrating her “191st birthday.” He challenged critics to find pre-2006 references to her, asserting that such evidence would disprove his claim.
The book ‘Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Early Twentieth Century’ published in 1991 briefly mentions her as a colleague of the Phules but offers no further details about her contributions which holds the claim made by Dilip Mandal. This underlines the age-old tactic of insertion of fictional figures and narratives into India’s history to give push to the Reddish-Green propaganda. The debunking of the story of Fatima Sheikh also showcases the modus operandi and propaganda toolkit of the Islamo-leftist ecosystem. In simple terms, once someone churns a fabricated story, it goes straight through the rumour mill of the Islamo-leftist lobby and the mass production of propaganda pieces are published at breakneck speed, even at odd hours.
This is not the first time the propaganda narrative of the ecosystem has crumbled down. There have been many instances where the myth circulated by the cabal has been debunked.
Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi legal dispute
The Supreme Court’s 2019 verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, affirming the construction of a Ram Mandir, debunked long standing narratives by Left historians who opposed the temple’s existence. The court upheld the ASI’s findings of a temple beneath the disputed structure colloquially dubbed as Babri Masjid, discrediting testimonies presented by Left-leaning historians in the Allahabad High Court’s 2010 judgment. Also the testimonies of key figures like Suvira Jaiswal, S.C. Mishra, Sushil Srivastava, Suraj Bhan and Supriya Varma who claimed that there is no Ram Mandir beneath Babri Masjid admitted to lacking expertise or relying on media reports and personal opinions. This showcases the tooth and nail attempts made by the Leftist Historians to mislead the masses into giving up their own culture and beliefs.
Burning of Nalanda University
A few months back, TFI highlighted how there was a brouhaha in the social media regarding the falsehoods being peddled around the infamous Nalanda University burning incident. The debate was pushed by none other by Dr. Ruchika Sharma who is notorious for spreading Hinduphobia and bogus historical facts. She uploaded a video in her Youtube channel where she blamed Brahmins for the burning of Nalanda University while giving a free pass to Invader Bakhityar Khilji who at the end of the 12th century attacked the university, killed the Brahmins present there and set the University ablaze.
It is believed that Nalanda’s libraries kept burning for over three months. But Ruchika Sharma somehow tried to peddle the fabricated story of Brahmins burning down Nalanda which pushes their vested agenda of demonising Brahmins. Though the sham historical theory did not come out of the brain of Ruchika Sharma but of Hinduphobic Historian D.N Jha. who peddled this myth of Brahmins burning the Nalanda University. The myth started by D.N Jha was adopted by the future Islamo-Leftist Historians with Ruchika Sharma being one of them. Even after getting debunked multiple times, the fictional story is still being peddled with the same rigour by the naive followers of these foreign-imported isms.
The boogie of Hindu conspiracy and RSS ki Saazish canard following Mumbai Terror Attack
In the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks perpetrated by the Islamic Terrorists, Congress leaders and journalist Aziz Burney tried to propagate the conspiracy theory where he blamed the RSS and “saffron terror” responsible for the deadly Mumbai attack instead of holding Pakistan responsible.
Burney’s book, “26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?”, alleged RSS, Mossad, and the CIA were behind the attacks, with Congress leader Digvijaya Singh endorsing these claims. It is because of the supreme sacrifice of Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble that Ajmal Kasab could be caught alive and the plot to blame the Hindus dropped down. Rakesh Maria, the former Mumbai police commissioner also in his book “Let Me Say It Now”, which came out in 2020 revealed that the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 would have been termed as “Hindu terror” as the Lashkar-e-Taiba had sent the terrorists with fake Hindu names with Kalavas in their hands.
Rana Ayuub’s Gujarat Files
Controversial and self proclaimed Investigative Journalist Rana Ayuub notorious for spreading Islamist propaganda authored the book named “Gujarat Files – Anatomy of a Coverup” where she claimed of a big expose regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots. However, the Supreme Court in 2019 held the book devoid of facts. The apex court junked her noting that it was based upon surmises, conjectures, and suppositions and it lacked evidentiary value.
The Supreme Court noted that Rana Ayuub’s book can’t be used as an evidence to point out at the happenings during the Gujarat Riots. The book had been previously used by certain groups to make accusations against the then Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi.
Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT)
Another popular Historical myth that jumps time and again in the public discourse is The Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). This canard alleged that Indo-European-speaking Aryans invaded India around 1500 BCE. The sham theory has been widely critiqued and debunked over the years.
Originally popularised by European scholars in the 18th and 19th centuries, the theory proposed a foreign conquest of India, resulting in the imposition of Aryan culture, language, and religion on native populations. However, archaeological and linguistic evidence has thoroughly debunked the story.
Linguists like August Schlegel and others initially suggested that the Aryans originated in the Caucasus region, but later studies pointed to inconsistencies in the theory, including the lack of evidence for an invasion or migration. The Out-of-India Theory (OIT), which posits that the Aryans originated in India, was dismissed for many years but has gained traction in recent decades. Scholars like Shrikant Talageri and Dr Koenraad Elst have presented compelling evidence for an indigenous origin of the Vedic civilization. The AIT has also been politically manipulated to justify colonial rule and divide Indian society along caste lines. Despite a growing body of evidence against it, the AIT continues to persist in Western academic circles.
Bhima Koregaon Battle
The Bhima Koregaon battle is often intentionally misrepresented as a conflict between Dalits and upper castes Hindus by the anti-Hindu lobby to deepen caste lines among Hindus for political benefits. Bhima Koregaon battle is often narrated as a victory of Dalits over Peshwas who were Brahmins. However, the historical facts suggest otherwise. The battle, fought in 1818, was between the British and the Marathas, not a Dalit vs Brahmin confrontation. The British forces, which included Mahar soldiers, did not see the Mahars as leaders but as foot soldiers.
The British retreat from the battle was portrayed as a victory, but it was, in fact, a failure for the British, who had to abandon their mission. The Mahars, part of the British Army, did not fight for a Dalit cause but as part of the British forces. Additionally, British colonial policies later relegated Mahars and other lower castes to menial roles and even stopped recruiting them in the army by 1892. The idea that the battle symbolised Dalit militancy contradicts the traditions of the Mahars, who fought alongside Shivaji’s forces and were integrated into the broader social fabric of Maratha society.
Breast Tax
The story of ‘Breast Tax’ is another historical myth propagated by the Islamo-Leftist ecosystem to falsely showcase casteism inside the Hindu society and demonise the upper caste Hindus for vested ideological interests. The story claims that lower-caste women in Kerala were forced to pay a tax for covering their breasts, with Nangeli, an Ezhava woman, protesting by mutilating herself. However, historical records provide no evidence of such events. Kerala’s traditional attire, influenced by its tropical climate, featured minimal clothing regardless of caste or gender. Historical accounts, including those by Dutch traveler William Van Nieuhoff and Indian scholar L.K. Anantha Krishna Iyer highlights that even upper-caste women, including royalty, commonly left their bosoms uncovered, contradicting claims of caste-based humiliation.
Ashoka embracing Buddhism
The very popular historical myth that the ecosystem’s favourite Historian Romila Thapar came up with and is also taught to school going students includes the conversion of ruler Ashoka to Buddhism. The popular myth mentions that the Ashoka after being devastated with the loss of thousands of lives in the Kalinga war he undertook converts to Buddhism in search of peace. This historical myth was busted by Scholar Sanjeev Sanyal in his book where he presents evidence that clearly showcases the conversion of Ashoka way before he undertook the Kalinga War. The popular myth that came out of Romila Thapar was spread for decades does grave intellectual dishonesty.
The Islamo-Leftist ecosystem operates in a circular propaganda economy, where public intellectuals or historians create historical myths to fit their ideological narrative. Once these myths are established, the entire ecosystem amplifies them. Leftist scholars have produced a significant volume of tertiary sources in history, often citing one another’s works to bolster their ideological framework. These tertiary sources create an illusion of academic credibility, making it easier for falsehoods to be perpetuated. As a result, myths are reinforced through repeated references, and over time, what started as a blatant lie becomes widely accepted as truth, but not any more.
