Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies

31
contention was that the Kartarpuri Bir was not the original
Granth compiled by the fifth Guru because it lacked a number
of the features which the original Adi-Granth should have.
Thirdly, he asserted that the Kartarpuri Bir was either a copy
of the Banno Bir or a copy of its copy. Unfortunately, the
contention of G. B. Singh, besides being entirely unfounded,
were also couched in offensive language. 32 The result was that
in 1964, Dr. Jodh Singh, after a careful study of the Karlarpuri
Bir published his book ,. Pracheen Biran Bare”, which not only
refuted completely the assertions of G. B. Singh but also
thoroughly exposed the hollow, self- contradictory and false
character of his statements and inferences.
We have already indicated and discussed the various
features of the Kartarpuri Bir to show its authenticity; it would,
therefore, be wasteful for us to repeat all the mis-statements
of G. B. Singh and to detail the arguments and facts that show
how baseless those are. However, we shall very broadly give
the criticism of G. B. Singh and the reply of Jodh Singh on the
three points mentioned above and consider some of the facts
and views expressed by both of them in that regard. Dr. Jodh
Singh brought out that while G. B. Singh had attacked the
authenticity both of the Adi-Granth and the Kartarpuri Bir, he
had neither examined the Kartarpuri Bir nor seen the Mohan
Pothies. 33 As to the Banno Bir, G. B. Singh conceded that he had
very little time to have a close look at it. He had tried to build
his arguments on the basis of the written replies of the
custodian of the Banno Bir conveyed to him at Lahore. 34 One
can well imagine how unsound a person’s arguments and
inferences about the three Granths can be when regarding two
of them, which he had never seen, much less examined, he
depends purely on hearsay, and regarding the third Granth, the
Banno Bir, he relies upon the obviously biased claims of the
custodian of the Bano Bir concerning the very facts which an