Amritsar, December 12, 2004
The Tribune
An eminent Sikh religious studies scholar, Dr Harbans Lal, said today
that the Punjab Government had decided to translate Guru Granth Sahib
into all Indian languages.
Talking to the Tribune on the concluding day of the fourth International
Conference on Guru Granth Sahib organised by Guru Nanak Dev University,
professor emeritus Harbans Lal said although the holy granth had already
been translated into Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi, English, German and French,
there was a need to translate it into other languages also.
Mr Harbans Lal had been appointed consultant to a Punjab government-sponsored
NGO, which would be headed by Principal Jasbir Singh, a renowned Sikh
resource person. He said the translation work would be completed by
2008.
Giving a brief of the four-day international conference, Dr Harbans
Lal said eminent academicians and scholars of the Sikh religion had
acknowledged the comprehensive history of the compilation of the Adi
Granth, which stresses inter-faith character, universal message, respect
for human rights, justice, peace and freedom of religious practices.
The consensus among the scholars was that the Adi Granth had visualised
world peace through understanding. They felt that the ancient wisdom
of the granth would be of a great value to the modern world and our
civil society.
The international conference adopted 10-point guiding principles, which
were endorsed by the representatives of the leading international organisations,
including Mr Marcus Braybrook, President, World Congress of Faiths,
Mr Tatiana Androsov, World Centre for Thanksgiving, Alfredo Sfeir Younis,
World Bank, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi of Sikh Dharma International,
Dr Inderjit Kaur, Dr Rajwant Singh of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation,
Dr Harbans Lal, president of the Academy of Guru Granth Sahib Studies,
Mrs Rajinderjit Kaur of the Sikh Women Association and Temple of Understanding,
Mr Pritpal Singh Bindra and Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia.
The guiding principles are: to recognise the presence of the divine
light in every living human being; recognise that earth is created according
to Gods cosmic blueprint and is intrinsically good; God is the
creator and its creative manifestation extend to all humans; it is human
destiny to emulate the divine attribute, experience divinity in work
and service, follow the principles of righteous living by believing
in equality, dignity, justice and human behaviour that cleanse the body
and the mind; to build an institution of altruism and sharing social
infrastructure; to advocate for those who are most vulnerable, uphold
spiritual and moral responsibility to guide politics and finally to
build the world order without the culture of mine and yours
psychology.