Claim that Sinhala was removed from name board of Indian Consulate in Jaffna refuted

(MENAFN- NewsIn.Asia) Colombo, June 9 (newsin.asia):  A fact check website srilanka.factcresendo.com has refuted the social media allegation that the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna in Tamil-speaking North Sri Lanka, had removed Sinhala on its name board.

The fact check agency also refuted the allegation that the Indian authorities had removed the Sinhala, angry with increasing Chinese influence in South Sri Lanka and also as a retaliation for the absence of  Tamil in name boards in the Chinese-funded Colombo Port City and other Chinese projects in the island nation.

Comparing pictures of the name board outside the Consulate General taken in 2015 and 2021, the agency found that Sinhala had been not there at all. No changes had been made. The picture used in the social media to illustrate the story, had, in fact, been taken in 2015.

The story on the supposed removal of Sinhala came out first in the ''NewJaffna'' FB account on May 31, 2021. Subsequently it was featured in other social media outlets with comments.

As part of its investigation, srilanka.factcresendo.com checked with the authorities in the Indian High Commission who also stated that there had been no change in the languages used. The languages featured were always Hindi (the official language of India), English and Tamil (the local language).

Additionally, the fact check agency found that the missions of Pakistan and Maldives in Colombo also did not have Sinhalese on their name boards.   

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