Rights, Rivers and the Quest for Water Commons: The Case of Bangladesh

Right to water may sound novel and somewhat dramatic, yet it has been central to the quest of human civilization for thousands of years. One of the earliest references to water as ‘common property’ can be found in the Jewish laws as early as 3000 BCE.Similar views are also found in Islam. In fact, the Arabic word for Islamic law - shari’ah - originally meant “the place from which one descends to water.”Since water is a gift from the divine to all living beings, sharing water is regarded as holy