Fact Check: Did Indian High Commission appoint Sri Lankan singer Yohani as cultural ambassador?
Social media users are claiming that the Indian High Commission in Colombo has appointed popular Sri Lankan singer Yohani
By Newsmeter Network Published on 1 Oct 2021 3:45 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Social media users are claiming that the Indian High Commission in Colombo has appointed popular Sri Lankan singer Yohani as a cultural ambassador of two countries.
"Yohani was appointed as a cultural ambassador between Lanka and India by Sri Lanka's Indian High Commission Office (sic)," reads the post.
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Fact Check:
The claim is misleading.
On September 18, the Indian High Commission in Colombo had praised Yohani on its Facebook page after her song `Manike Mage Hithe' clocked over 110 million views on YouTube.
"A proud moment as the newest cultural Ambassador Yohani is feted by national TV networks in India. And why not? With >110 million YouTube views, her #manikemagehithe has captured millions of Indian hearts from celebrities to common people. True spontaneity and depth of thousands-year-old India-Sri Lanka relations at its best!" the high commission wrote.
Later, netizens began posting that the Indian High Commission has appointed Yohani as their cultural ambassador.
NewsMeter checked the official pages and media reports to gauge the accuracy of the news, but we found none. It was neither on the high commission's website nor on the website of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations or ICCR Sri Lanka.
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https://www.facebook.com/
Our fact-checking team checked the official page of the singer and found that on September 21, she had posted a few pictures on Instagram and Facebook.
"Dr. Rewant Vikram Singh Director, Indian Cultural Centre (now called Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre), High Commission of India, hosted us today in his office," she wrote.
But, nowhere had she mentioned that she has been appointed the cultural ambassador.
Indian High Commission told AFP it had not appointed Yohani as its cultural ambassador.
"No such formal appointment has been made," a spokesperson told AFP
The commission said that a Facebook post that praised Yohani for her cover of `Manike Mage Hithe' and dubbed her `the newest cultural Ambassador' had been misinterpreted.
Had that been the case, media organizations would have reported such events.
Hence, the post has been misinterpreted by the netizens. The singer has not been appointed the cultural ambassador by Indian High Commission.
