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| - Fact Check: Is Yohani of 'Manike Mage Hithe' fame the new cultural envoy between India, SL?
Several posts on social media claimed that Yohani de Silva, of 'Manike Mage Hithe' fame, has been appointed the cultural ambassador between India and Sri Lanka by the Indian High Commission in Colombo. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka had praised Yohani for the song and termed her the “newest cultural ambassador”. But it was misinterpreted by netizens. It was only a praise and there has been no official appointment.
The insanely popular number “Manike Mage Hithe” by Sri Lankan singer Yohani De Silva has won the hearts of millions of Indians, along with celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Tiger Shroff.
And now, many on social media believe that Yohani has been appointed the cultural ambassador between the two countries by the Indian High Commission in Colombo. Some web portals have also claimed the same thing.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka had praised Yohani for the song and termed her the “newest cultural ambassador”. But it has been misinterpreted by netizens. It was only a praise and there has been no official appointment.
What AFWA found
On September 18, the Indian High Commission in Colombo had praised Yohani on its Facebook page after “Manike Mage Hithe” got 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.
After this, netizens begun posting that the Indian High Commission has appointed Yohani as their cultural ambassador. But this was not reflected anywhere officially neither on the high commission’s website nor on the website of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
On September 21, Yohani posted some pictures of her and others 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.
However, nowhere did she mention that she had been appointed the cultural ambassador.
AFP Fact Check contacted the Indian High Commission who confirmed that as of September 25, Yohani was not officially appointed the cultural ambassador.
Claim to fame
Yohani is a 28-year-old Sri Lankan rapper and songwriter. “Manike Mage Hithe” is a Sinhala song that was originally sung by Satheesan Rathnayaka and Dulax ARX in 2020. They invited Yohani to sing the cover version of the song.
The peppy version became an instant hit, crossing 130 million views on YouTube and has been on the Top 10 chart of the YouTube Global Music Index for quite some days.
Earlier, several Indian celebrities such as AR Rehman had been appointed cultural diplomats, which was officially declared, and also covered by mainstream media.
But till the time of publishing this story, neither the Indian High Commission nor the singer nor the mainstream media has officially declared that Yohani has been appointed a cultural diplomat by the Indian government.
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