Behdeiñkhlam 2021 is being held with a difference, given the Covid-19 pandemic still raging in Meghalaya and the Seiñ Raij Niamtre Shillong has urged everyone to get themselves vaccinated in order to beat the disease.
Following restrictions and government advisories, Behdeiñkhlam’s rituals and celebrations are being held with minimum participation in order to be able to maintain physical distancing.
Today morning prayers (Ka Ngooh Ka Dem) were offered to U Tre Kirot (God), Ki Blai Chnong Ki Blai Raid and Ka Bei Rymaw (Mother Earth), seeking protection for the land and its people from epidemics, pandemics and persistent diseases.
In his speech, general secretary Dr Omarlin Kyndiah said, “Covid-19 is nowhere near as deadly as smallpox, which had a fatality rate of 30 percent from the third century BC up to 1977 (when it was eradicated), killing 500 million people. Smallpox has been eradicated and the World Health Organisation declared the world free of smallpox in 1980. Smallpox vaccination was one of the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievements of the 20th century. Similarly, the only way we can protect and eradicate Covid-19 is to get vaccinated.”
Tomorrow the rites and rituals of “Ngooh Thyndai” will be performed via virtual mode.
