Delhi University tries really hard (or rather it claims to try hard) to stay away from controversies and then issues diktats like the one it just did. The university's Hindi department has told colleges to start teaching a Hindi course to "all Indian students", who have not studied it till Class VIII! But it doesn't just end there, they will then also have to clear a Compulsory Test in Hindi (CTH). Meanwhile, students from the northeast, who were once exempt from this requirement, are quite angry. Colleges, however, say they can't go ahead with the department's direction unless the university asks them to.

The CTH is a long-standing policy and part of the university ordinance. In the academic council meeting in July, CTH's syllabus, recast into the choice-based credit system mode, was passed but the minutes neglected to mention the three groups of students exempt. The Hindi department's letter refers to the AC meeting.

"Students from Jammu and Kashmir, the northeastern states and foreign students were exempt from clearing the CTH, but the minutes of the AC meeting don't mention them," says AC-member Rudrashish Chakraborty.

The North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS), however, is threatening to launch an agitation saying the "imposition of Hindi on DU students, who come from different parts of the country, is another disgraceful attempt to discriminate against them."