Facebook posts shared hundreds of times claim a popular Sri Lankan singer has been appointed "cultural ambassador" by the Indian High Commission in Colombo. The claim is misleading: the Indian High Commission told AFP that no such formal appointment had been made as of September 25, 2021.
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"It is being reported that the Indian High Commission has appointed Yohani De Silva as the new Indian Cultural Ambassador/ Congratulations!" reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post published on September 20.
The post shows a photo of Sri Lankan singer Yohani.
The artist's cover of the Sinhala-language song "Manike Mage Hithe" went viral in India when it was released in May, and has garnered more than 120 million views on YouTube.
Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on September 23, 2021
Similar reports were shared on Facebook here and here and on Instagram here.
Comments suggest some social media users believed the reports were true.
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"In Sri Lanka, you would not receive anything like this. Congratulations. Politicos in Sri Lanka only want to fill their pockets, don't admire things like this...They [Indians] see your worth more than [Sri Lankan politicians]," one person commented.
"Indian also has no limit on taking this too far," another wrote.
However, the posts are misleading.
The Indian High Commission told AFP it had not appointed Yohani as its cultural ambassador as of September 25, 2021.
"No such formal appointment has been made," a spokesperson told AFP.
The commission said that a Facebook post from September 18 that praised Yohani for her cover of "Manike Mage Hithe" and dubbed her "the newest cultural Ambassador" had been misinterpreted.
The Facebook post read, "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!"
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There has been no announcement that Yohani has been appointed as a cultural ambassador on the official Facebook pages of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the ICCR Sri Lanka or the website of the Indian Cultural Center, as of September 27.