Q:In a recent judgment, the Uttarakhand High Court declared the rivers Yamuna and Ganga as legal or juridical persons, enjoying all the rights, duties and liabilities of a living person; how do you look at it?
A: “Hindus believe rivers Yamuna and Ganga came down from heaven and so treat them as holy. For them these rivers are sacred and enjoy the status of deities. When they say a river is sacred, their understanding is that it is a living being. It is their belief. We cannot question someone’s belief. They also believe that a dip in Ganga will bring them forgiveness from sins. The river’s living spirit is working for them. We cannot question their views, but, at the same time, cannot also accommo-date them. We can at most look at it allego-rically, just as we think of running water as living water. We also consider water used in baptism as life giving. Again, when Jesus dipped in the water, the Spirit came upon Him. Water is the giver of life in as much as it made life possible. What is ordinary water for me may be sacred water for others. The problem here is with Hindu fundamentalists mixing up religion with politics. That is seen in ascribing the status of deity even to animals like the cow. We cannot deny the presence of God in rivers, but, at the same time, we cannot agree with considering them as living beings.”

Bp John Vadakel
Bijnor