Patiala scholar translated entire Dasam Granth into English

PATIALA: Five months after Hardiljit Singh Sidhu, popularly known in the academic world as "Lali Baba", died in December 2014, scholars of Punjabi University, Patiala, have found a 1,740-page manuscript of the first complete English translation of Sri Dasam Granth from his residence.
The discovery surprised Punjabi academic and religious circles as the scholar had been criticised for not "writing much" during his lifetime.
The authorship, authenticity and historicity of the 1428-page Sri Dasam Granth has been the subject of controversy throughout.
Whereas a section of Sikhs believes that it was entirely authored by the tenth Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh, the other holds that only a part of it was penned by him. The part titled, "Triya Chirtra", running into 670 pages, is considered the most controversial. A section of Sikh scholars and religious preachers say this was not authored by the guru. However, the entire granth is followed by Damdami Taksal and Gurdwara Hazoor Sahib, Nanded.
What has surprised scholars is that for 10 years since 2004, when Sidhu began the translation, till his death in 2014, he didn't tell anyone outside his family about the mammoth project he was working on.
Sidhu was popular in Punjabi academia for his ability to hold brilliant conversations on anything from world literature, art, music, films, sports and politics for hours. Except writing a few articles in English journal "Literary Studies" in 1960s, Sidhu didn't pen anything significant.
"On the day of Sidhu's cremation on December 28 last year, a retired IAS officer told me that he had translated the complete Sri Dasam Granth into English. Nobody believed it. But on May 15, a copy of the manuscript was handed over to us. It contained 1,740 typewritten pages. It is the English rendering of 1,428 Gurmukhi pages of Sri Dasam Granth," said professor Harpal Singh Pannu, former head of department of religious studies, Punjabi University. Claiming that it was the first Gurmukhi-to-English translation of the entire text of Sri Dasam Granth, Pannu said, "This comes as a miracle for us."
Eminent Sikh scholar Dr Rattan Singh Jaggi said, "So far, only two English translations of Sri Dasam Granth are available. One is by Jodh Singh and other by Surinder Singh Kohli. However, the objectionable text, which comprises one-third of the scripture, is not included."
Pannu said efforts would be made to publish the entire text translated by Sidhu. "We are seeking a publisher of high repute to print it. We will incorporate some font changes so that the final publication is 1,428 pages as in the original version of Sri Dasam Granth," he said.