Now, a 'feminist' Mumbai poet accused of harassing young girls with sexts

One important aspect of the #MeToo movement — a social media revolution that broke the silence around misogyny, rape culture, sexual abuse and sexual violence — revolved around identifying and calling out those who have successfully masked themselves as feminist allies while engaging in predatory behaviour. The fall from grace, in that respect, comes in the form of Shamir Reuben, a poet and the head of content and social media for Kommune.

Kommune is a collective of artists, producers, patrons, collaborators and art lovers who, according to their website, “want to discover and nurture creative performance art ideas”. Its aim is to bring out the best in live performance art, created and performed by “the best in the business”. Needless to say, Kommune is, as per popular opinion, a safe space for art and emotions; a haven of sorts for artists who use verse to express themselves.

But within that safe space many women felt unsafe; some even felt ambushed.

Mumbai poet Shamir Reuber. [Photo: Screengrab/Kommune]

A February 7 Facebook post by Sakina Bootwala recounted in chilling detail the misdeeds of this popular slam poet, someone who many looked up to in the poetry circuits of Delhi and Mumbai. With a trigger warning, Bootwala wrote: “It was through ask.fm that I came into contact with Shamir Reuben. He approached me with a simple, sweet message, and we exchanged numbers. This was someone that was looked up to by everyone on the site, including me. Which is why I was extremely confused when he attempted to initiate sexting. I was far too naive to realise what was going on, however I was extremely uncomfortable so I played it off...”

Her Facebook post, which has been shared by hundreds (while prompting more posts of a similar nature), also contained screenshots of conversations — that Reuben had with teenage women, and conversations women had with the author of the post. All of them pointed towards a disturbing trend that has existed for some time now: unsolicited sexting, asking for nude photographs, not respecting boundaries, acting too familiar and, perhaps, the most important part of the story — all of this with underage women.

Girls as young as sixteen and seventeen have vouched for these accusations, adding their own experiences to a steadily growing list of instances where the poet acted in a manner that made women feel uncomfortable.

Bootwala’s post was met not just with shock and disgust, but also with more tales of manipulation and misbehaviour.

With allegations stacking up against Reuben and social media abuzz with rage, Kommune issued a statement announcing the poet's suspension: “Kommune recognises that posts have been shared about Shamir Reuben’s past conduct with certain individuals. We acknowledge and respect the individuals who are speaking up about these issues. The allegations made are of serious concern to us, and constitutes unacceptable behaviour by any of our personnel. Pending enquiry into these allegations, Shamir’s role at Kommune will remain suspended.”

It was a move that has been appreciated by the collective’s patrons.

But is it just the creepy behaviour, the over-familiarisation and the incessant sexting that is problematic? No. As was pointed out by some on social media (including close friends and acquaintances of Reuben), what the young poet did can also amount to a crime, specifically as a violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

According to sections 11 and 12 of the Act, Reuben’s behaviour may constitute sexual harassment of minors, for which the punishment is up to three years' imprisonment.

Reuben has responded to the allegations in a Facebook post: "A lot has been said in the past day about me. If any of my messages or actions may have made Sakina or any other woman uncomfortable, I want to apologise profusely for any discomfort felt because of me. I genuinely do not believe my messages or actions would cause them hurt and I sincerely hope that I can be forgiven by all those that I may have inadvertently wronged." 

"Several things said are an incorrect portrayal of past events during 2013 - 2016, and the messages shared form part of longer conversations. The women to whom I sent messages were my friends, most of who I knew over months and even years, and messages between friends when read out of context often portray an incorrect picture of the true nature of events. These messages, when viewed today, are indeed inappropriate but were never intended to cause harm to any woman."

Legalities aside it would depend on whether or not any of his multiple victims choose to rest their faith in due process. This incident is a timely reminder of a trope that has been played up multiple times, not just within the confines of #MeToo but also in the past: the predatory ally.

If one goes through Reuben's posts on Facebook and Twitter (where he has a combined following of more than 15,000), one would find his opinion on feminism and the #MeToo movement — he is a known supporter and believer of both. And yet, there are, at present, at least a dozen women who are testament to the conspicuous lack of practice of what he preaches.

Perhaps, the only thing that best describes Reuben’s case is his own tweet — that has not aged well at all — from October 2017: “Of course men try to better themselves. Every time a woman asks ‘how pathetic can a man get’, one of us always rises to the challenge.” 

Indeed. 

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