India, Jan. 10 -- Dilip Mandal, author, activist, and media advisor in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, stoked a controversy on Thursday when he claimed that Fatima Sheikh, widely celebrated as India's first Muslim school teacher, and who was a colleague of Savitribai Phule, never existed.

In a series of tweets, Mandal claimed that Sheikh was a "fictional character" who had been propped up by him in the past. "Fatima Sheikh is more of a modern folklore or myth-a figure constructed without historical or textual evidence," he posted on X.

Fatima Sheikh, as described in various writings, was believed to be a close associate of Savitribai Phule. She was believed to have helped Jotiba and Savitribai establish India's first schoo...