[The Admiral]
They came to power on the shoulders of women. Mothers carried them. Sisters lifted them. Daughters pushed them to victory.
The presidential campaign was painted with women. Women in photos. Women at rallies. Women in videos. Women everywhere. Smiling women. Hopeful women. Believing women.
Parliamentary campaign continued the show. More women. All classes. All races. All religions. Rich women. Poor women. Buddhist women. Muslim women. Hindu women. Christian women. Village women. City women. Working women. Housewives. Students. Grandmothers.
Women across the country believed. Women across the world watched. Women voted. Women celebrated. Women hoped.
Where are those women now? Where did they go? What happened to them?
Let us start at the top. The First Lady. The President's wife. Where is she? Have you seen her? Does she exist? Is she real? Or is she a prisoner? Locked away in the Man's world. Hidden. Invisible. Silent. Not allowed to be seen. Not permitted to speak. The First Lady who is not first. Not even second. Just absent.
The Prime Minister. The champion of women's affairs. The fighter for equality. The voice for the voiceless. She had a committee. A special committee. For that young girl who committed suicide. That child who could not bear the pain anymore. That daughter who saw no hope.
So what happened to that fiasco? Why? Because the predator was her party man. Her comrade. Her colleague. So the committee went quiet. The case went cold. The little girl was forgotten. The Prime Minister moved on. She is liberal lier. She knows how to lie even to her own soul. Champion of women's affairs. As long as the women are not victims of party men.
Nobody remembers that little girl now. Nobody talks about her. Nobody demands justice for her. The incompetent Prime Minister is safe. The predator is safe. Only the dead girl is not safe. Even in death.
Women still drown in micro loan payments. Crushing debt. Impossible interest. Daily collectors knocking on doors. Women hiding. Women crying. Women suffering. Where is the government that rode on their shoulders? Nowhere.
Women have lost thousands of jobs. Factories closing. Shops shutting. Businesses dying. Women sent home. Women without income. Women without hope. Where are the promises? Evaporated.
Cost of living keeps climbing. Rice prices. Vegetable prices. Medicine prices. School fees. Transport costs. Everything up. Women's salaries down or gone. Women struggling. Women skipping meals so children can eat. Women breaking under pressure. And the good Central Bank governor says, the inflation is down. Even his wife's basket disagrees with that hopeless and helpless man, who is lying through his teeth.
Majority of women in this country live in dire circumstances. Real poverty. Actual suffering. Daily struggle. This is not politics. This is life. Hard life. Impossible life. For the women who voted believing things would change.
What has this government done for women? Nothing. Less than nothing. They used women to win. Then forgot women existed.
Where are all the promises? All the speeches? All the commitments? All the guarantees? Gone. Vanished. Like Haputale mist. Like election posters after voting day.
But wait. The opposition will save women. The opposition cares. The opposition will fight.
No. The opposition is worse. Much worse. Even a Viagra can not get them up and running. Even the old John was better with a pill.
One man fighting to avoid jail. His entire political strategy is personal survival. He has auctioned one of the oldest political parties for his personal freedom. Everything for sale. Principles. History. Legacy. All sold to stay out of prison.
Two famous sons who dream of being President. Sons of former leaders. Born with silver spoons and golden ambitions. Zero shame. Zero ability. Zero care about actual people including actual women. Just want the chair. The power. The title. The glory. One son used to parade the wife. Thankfully she is silent now. The other one has started parading his wife. Campaigning already.
These three main opposition parties. If they sink, people say, maybe small parties will rise.
Maybe new faces will emerge. Maybe hope exists elsewhere.
No. If the main parties are garbage, the small parties are garbage bins. Same waste. Smaller container.
There is no leader in this country who actually cares for women. Not one. Not in government. Not in opposition. Not anywhere.
Nobody cares about mothers struggling with micro loans. Nobody cares about sisters losing jobs. Nobody cares about daughters facing predators.
Nobody cares about women drowning in cost of living. Nobody cares about the First Lady imprisoned in her own life. Nobody cares about the little girl who died. Nobody cares about any woman suffering.
Zero leaders. Zero care. Zero action. Zero justice. Zero hope.
But tomorrow they will all celebrate. International Women's Day. Grand celebrations. Beautiful speeches. Touching tributes. Promises flowing like rivers. Commitments stacking like mountains.
Ministers will praise women. Opposition will honor women. Everyone will celebrate women. For one day. One photo opportunity. One speech moment.
Then March 9th comes. Women's Day ends. Speeches stop. Promises evaporate. Women go back to suffering. Leaders go back to not caring. Everything returns to normal. To the normal where women are used for votes then forgotten for everything else.
Wake up. Every woman reading this. Every mother. Every sister. Every daughter. Every wife. Every grandmother. Wake up and see the truth.
The leaders of this country have lied to you. Government lied. Opposition lied. Everyone lied. They used your hopes. Your dreams. Your beliefs. Your votes. Then they abandoned you.
They rode on your shoulders to power. Then they pushed you down and walked over you. They promised you everything. Then they gave you nothing. They said they cared. Then they proved they do not.
The First Lady is invisible. The little girl is dead. The Prime Minister is incompetent. The women are drowning in debt. The jobs are gone. The prices are up. The promises are broken. The leaders do not care.
This is the truth. The hard truth. The painful truth. The truth is they will cover up tomorrow with speeches and flowers and celebrations.
But truth does not change because of one day of pretending. Women are suffering. Leaders do not care. And tomorrow's speeches are tomorrow's lies.
Wake up. See the truth. Feel the anger. Remember the betrayal. And stop believing the lies.
They lied to mothers. They lied to sisters. They lied to their daughters. They lied to every woman who believed them.
And tomorrow they will lie again. With flowers in their hands and smiles on their faces and absolutely zero intention of keeping any promise they make.
Wake up. Before they use you again. Before they lie to you again. Before they betray you again.
The women of this country deserve better. Deserve leaders who care. Deserve promises that are kept. Deserve justice that comes. Deserve hope that is real.
But you will not get better until you wake up. Until you see the truth. Until you stop believing the lies. Until you demand more than speeches and flowers on one day of the year.
Wake up. Your leaders have failed you. All of them. Every single one. Government and opposition. Present and future. All failures. All liars. All users of women for power.
Wake up. And stay awake. Because only awake women can change this. Only angry women can demand better. Only united women can force leaders to actually care.
Wake up. The time for believing speeches is over. The time for demanding action is now.
Wake up.