The Uttarakhand High Court has declared the rivers Ganga and Yamuna to have a human persona. The Honourable Court hopes thereby that the rivers will be better treated, not polluted, and kept clean. I very much doubt it. The Ganga and Yamuna are deep parts of India’s heritage. Many people treat them not as human beings but as divine. They bathe in them, wash their clothes, float dead bodies, cremate their loved ones on the banks and consign their ashes to the waters of these rivers. No doubt industrial and household waste is also lovingly dumped into their waters. If we treat them so badly when they are divine, what hope is there that we will do any better calling them human? But there is also a larger issue. The Honourable Court no doubt relies on the copious list of rights that humans have as citizens of India. But can anyone hold their hand on heart and say that these rights are enjoyed by the overwhelming majority of the citizens? Forget the utopian ideals of right to live or to ...