Hefazat-e-Islam’s Noakhali branch has called for Hizb ut-Tawhid to be banned in Bangladesh. Its leaders made the demand on July 30 while inspecting preparations for a planned grand rally in Noakhali on August 1. They said the group’s activities, which they described as contrary to the Quran and Sunnah, should be permanently eliminated.

The programme is being organised jointly by Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, Jamiatul Madarisil Qawmiyah and the Committee for Preventing Anti-Islamic Activities. Noakhali branch leaders described Hizb ut-Tawhid as holding a kufri ideology and alleged that it was conspiring to damage Muslims’ faith and beliefs. They also alleged that the organisation was targeting Noakhali and urged the head of government and relevant authorities to annul it through legislation.

The August 1 rally is scheduled for the district school field and is expected to include leading Islamic scholars and leaders of various Islamic organisations. Hefazat leaders said outreach, leaflet distribution and publicity campaigns were underway in Noakhali and neighbouring districts. They said they expected a large gathering of worshippers and members of the public, while calling on the administration to maintain normal law and order.

At least 10 people, including a police DSB branch member, were reported injured in an alleged attack on a National Citizen Party, or NCP, protest march in Phulbari, Kurigram, on the evening of July 30. The incident occurred beside Jame Mosque on Thana Road in the upazila town. The injured police member, Ferdous, was reported to have suffered an injury to his hand.

Witnesses said NCP activists organized the march to protest an alleged attack a day earlier on Azan Ahmed Shawon, upazila member secretary of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti. They alleged that activists from Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and Sramik Dal had gathered on Thana Road with sticks and pipes and launched a surprise attack as the procession approached. Several NCP and affiliated organization leaders were named among those injured, while four seriously injured people were sent to Kurigram General Hospital.

NCP activists and local residents said they identified several alleged participants from video clips circulated on social media. Chhatra Dal upazila convener Rezaul Islam Reza said NCP activists had first attacked one of their workers and claimed four Chhatra Dal members were injured in the ensuing clash. District NCP said it would pursue legal action, while police said the situation was calm.

An opinion article, published by Amar Desh Online on July 30, 2026 and attributed to Middle East Monitor, alleges that Israel has drawn the boundaries of US policy on war, diplomacy and trade in the Middle East. It claims the United States has been drawn into conflict with Iran while US forces fight and taxpayers bear the costs, whereas Israel has no interest in joining the confrontation directly.

The article cites Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as saying that a limited conflict between Iran and the United States is most beneficial for Israel. It further alleges that while the United States uses air-defense missile stocks to protect regional bases, Israel is preserving its own interceptors. The piece suggests those systems could later be sold to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states.

It also says Benjamin Netanyahu outlined Iran war objectives in a Fox News interview and cites Israeli officials discussing Israeli “red lines” with Washington. The article alleges that a Saudi civilian nuclear cooperation deal was made conditional on normalization with Israel. It additionally references a claimed delay in delivery of 50 F-35 aircraft, valued at $23 billion, promised to the UAE.

US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman in Dhaka on Thursday to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation. The meeting took place at the Padma State Guest House on the first day of Gor’s three-day visit to Bangladesh, after he arrived in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon. Officials said the two sides met with their delegations after 6 p.m., followed by about 20 minutes of private talks between Gor and the foreign minister.

Diplomatic sources said the roughly hour-long discussion covered the Dhaka-Washington strategic partnership, wider bilateral relations, regional security and global cooperation. In a verified Facebook post by the US Embassy in Dhaka, Ambassador Brent T. Christensen said the visit would further strengthen strategic partnership, regional security and economic cooperation. Gor said he was pleased to meet the foreign minister during his first Bangladesh visit and discuss working jointly to strengthen bilateral relations, adding that positive progress had occurred.

Gor is scheduled to visit Cox’s Bazar on Friday to observe conditions facing Rohingya refugees. On Saturday, the final day of the visit, he is expected to meet Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Diplomatic sources said Bangladesh’s foreign-policy priorities, regional strategic position and the future of Dhaka-Washington relations may also receive attention during the trip.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam said the visas of 626 Bangladeshis in the United Arab Emirates were automatically cancelled. Bangladesh has sent the UAE government a list seeking visa renewals for 417 of them, while information on the remaining people will be submitted in phases. She disclosed the figures to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

Islam said employers also bear certain responsibilities when visas are cancelled because workers lose their jobs. Bangladesh’s embassy is directly coordinating and communicating with the relevant companies. She urged expatriates to comply with the laws of both Bangladesh and their destination country, and advised them to avoid controversial Facebook posts on sensitive issues or politics and to refrain from destabilising activities.

The state minister said the government is moving to amend the 2013 migration law. It plans strict legal action against people involved in fraud, including provisions for up to seven years’ imprisonment for submitting false information or documents. The ministry has also begun coordinated work to reduce migration costs, curb broker fraud, and prevent irregular migration and human trafficking, establishing a separate migration wing at the Foreign Ministry for the first time.

Dhaka University’s syndicate has decided to send a recommendation for the permanent dismissal of sociology professor Dr Sadeqa Halim to the university tribunal. The decision was taken at a July 28 syndicate meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr A B M Obaidul Islam, according to the university’s public relations office. The syndicate also decided to temporarily suspend Halim, with further action to follow the tribunal’s final decision.

University sources said the action followed an investigation report concerning allegations including taking a position against students during the July mass uprising. Halim said she had learned some details of the matter and that the investigation committee’s recommendation had been sent to the tribunal. She said she would not comment until a final tribunal decision is issued. Allegations of unteacherlike conduct in and outside classrooms and ethical lapses were also cited.

The syndicate also removed six professors from academic and administrative duties and temporarily suspended three teachers and one official. It formed a committee to review all university appointments from January 1, 2009, to June 30, 2024, and another to examine HEQEP research activities and fund use. A July memorial monument is due for foundation-stone inauguration on August 5.

India’s Lok Sabha passed an amendment bill on July 30, 2026, amid heated debate, granting “Vande Mataram” equal status with the national anthem “Jana Gana Mana.” The bill makes insult to the song a punishable offence. According to the report, it was the first bill passed in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing monsoon session.

The measure passed by voice vote after only two lawmakers spoke, while opposition amendments were rejected. DMK member K. Kanizha opposed it, calling it a “Hindutva agenda” behind nationalism. He said making all six verses mandatory and treating refusal to sing them as a criminal offence would polarize the country and run against secular principles.

BJP’s Sambit Patra said Congress had failed to give “Vande Mataram” appropriate respect during 76 years of rule. Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the Modi government was giving the national song its due honour. Existing law provides up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both for intentionally preventing or disrupting the singing of “Jana Gana Mana”; the amendment extends those provisions to “Vande Mataram.”

Kader Siddique, president of the Krishak Sramik Janata League, said the arrest of Latif Siddique was a conspiracy to weaken the BNP government. He made the remarks on Thursday, July 30, while speaking to journalists after visiting the grave of Khondkar Mohammad Abul Hasnat Kismat, a founding general secretary and former president of Mirzapur Press Club in Tangail.

Siddique claimed that if Latif Siddique had been involved in the Shapla Chattar incident, he would have been arrested when he went to jail on August 28 last year. He said Latif Siddique told a court that he had no involvement in the incident and was not a member of the Crescent Committee. Kader Siddique also claimed that remarks Latif Siddique made about Sajeeb Wazed Joy were presented differently and complaints were made to several then Awami League leaders.

He said they would seek bail for Latif Siddique. Kader Siddique added that Latif Siddique had been jailed at least 40 times for participating in movements during the Pakistan era and would serve prison time in Bangladesh if necessary. He said they expected justice, democracy, and security for people, lives, and property in the country.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, demanded that the government cover all treatment costs for Habiganj district Jatiya Chhatra Shakti leader Alif Chowdhury and swiftly arrest those responsible for attacks. NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain made the demands at a news conference on Thursday afternoon after visiting Alif at the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital in the capital. He said Alif lost one eye in an attack during the party’s July march in Habiganj.

Hossain said Alif remained hospitalized after surgery and that doctors had said the damaged eye would never recover. He added that Alif was also seeing blurred vision in his other eye, creating concern that it could be affected as well. Hossain also alleged that an NCP motorcade was attacked in Sylhet about an hour before the news conference while returning after visiting graves of July uprising martyrs and meeting their family members.

The NCP alleged that Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and BNP activists attacked its programmes in Habiganj and protests in Kurigram, Dinajpur and Chattogram. Hossain accused the BNP government of following the Awami League’s path in attacks and repression against opponents. He sought compensation for Alif and his family, prosecution of identified attackers, and security for all opposition political activities.

Abhijit Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, demanded the resignation of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on July 30, alleging that police action against students during a July 20 march over examination irregularities was ordered by Shah. Dipke said the attack on students and bloodshed among protesters could not have occurred without the home minister’s instructions.

A day earlier, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi made a similar allegation during debate on an anti-question-paper-leak bill and also sought Shah’s resignation. The report said police used batons, tear gas and pellets during the march. Dipke further alleged that Delhi Police deliberately created a stone-throwing incident to justify action against protesters, claiming stones and a damaged vehicle were brought to Jantar Mantar and that BJP members threw stones while students were blamed.

Dipke rejected allegations that CJP received foreign funding for its Jantar Mantar protest, saying failure to stop such funding would itself reflect a Home Ministry failure. The report said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan left office on July 25 following the movement. Dipke also alleged harassment of activists after protests were withdrawn and said the movement could expand if necessary.

State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shah Alam said the current government’s achievements and public welfare activities during its first 180 days must be presented to the public in a factual, concise and objective manner. He made the remarks as chief guest at a meeting on Thursday, July 30, at the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division conference room in the Secretariat. The meeting reviewed progress in implementing the ministry and division’s 180-day action plan under the government’s election manifesto.

At the start of the meeting, offices and agencies under the division presented implementation progress, achievements, existing challenges and proposed responses. The state minister directed each office to provide brief, data-based accounts of its work and results. He said reports should include specific information on tree planting and environmental protection, employment creation, women’s empowerment, new projects, agricultural development, loan distribution, beneficiary numbers, cooperative membership growth, training programmes and public-awareness activities.

He also called for stronger coordination with NGOs, volunteer groups and social organisations to make government activities more effective and public-oriented. Mir Shah Alam stressed skills training, third-language education and needs-based technical training to expand overseas employment opportunities. He said an initiative would be taken to conduct a national survey collecting population, socioeconomic and other important data to support future planning and targeted service delivery.

Sheikh Azizur Rahman, who was seriously injured during the July movement, met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday, July 30, 2026, at the Prime Minister’s Office under the Cabinet Division at the Bangladesh Secretariat. Azizur presented the national flag he had tied around his head to stop bleeding from a gunshot wound. The flag had become stained with blood, and he said handing it to the prime minister fulfilled a long-held wish.

The meeting followed a media report saying Azizur had not received recognition as a July warrior despite being shot, allegedly because of his involvement with Chhatra Dal. After the report came to the prime minister’s attention, Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon was instructed to look into the matter and Azizur was brought to the office. The prime minister asked about his injuries, education, treatment, living conditions and his work driving a CNG vehicle to cover education costs.

Azizur is a second-year social work honours student at Government Bangla College and a member of its Chhatra Dal convening committee. He is from Lohagara upazila in Narail. The report says he was injured during the July 2024 mass movement at Mirpur-10 flyover, arrested on July 19, remanded for two days and released on July 21. It says he has yet to receive July warrior recognition.

Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that, in his experience over five months as a minister, nothing has changed in the country and people who took bribes continue to do so. Speaking as chief guest at a discussion meeting at the DFP auditorium in the Circuit House in the capital on Thursday, he called for change in the state and society in line with the spirit of July.

Fakhrul, also BNP secretary general, described change as a scientific and ongoing process, while saying that achieving it through movements and war under rules is different. He said Bangladesh gained independence through war in 1971 but has continued to call for change since then. He compared Bangladesh's position with the economic progress and livelihoods of China and Singapore.

He said lives have repeatedly been lost whenever change was demanded, and that young people joined the July 2024 movement, initially over their own demands before it developed into a demand for a change of government. He said the sacrifices made for change must be upheld, or the tears of mothers and bloodshed of July martyrs would be lost. Representatives of media, judicial and professional bodies also spoke at the event.

Leaders of Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union, or JAKSU, have rejected an administrative decision allowing elected JAKSU and hall union representatives to remain in university-assigned dormitories until their terms end, even after their student status expires. The decision was announced in a notice signed by acting registrar Dr A B M Azizur Rahman on July 29. JAKSU leaders and student organisation representatives criticised the move on social media.

The notice said students elected to posts in JAKSU and hall unions could stay in assigned halls for the duration of their respective terms. However, Clause 5(ta) of the university’s Student Discipline Ordinance-2018 requires students to leave halls within seven days after their academic life ends. JAKSU social service and human resource development secretary Ahsan Labib said JAKSU had not made such a demand and called for the office order to be withdrawn.

Executive member Nabila Binte Harun alleged the administration was using JAKSU to legitimise an opportunity for others to stay unlawfully and demanded rejection of the decision. Student Dal convenor Jahiruddin Mohammad Babar questioned differing treatment of expired students, while Student Shakti president Ziauddin Ayan asked whether separate rules were being created for ordinary students and JAKSU leaders.

In an interview with Amar Desh published on July 30, 2026, Fatema Rahman Bithi said her decision to lead from the front during the July uprising in Tangail was driven by her desire for a Bangladesh founded on equality, justice and democracy. Politically active since 2018, she said restrictions on freedom of expression and repression of students’ and ordinary people’s demands made silence feel like surrender to injustice.

Bithi said she led marches despite threats and attacks she attributed to Chhatra League, police barricades and fears of arrest, and said she also faced legal cases. She described how, on July 18, she took about 50 female students into a diagnostic centre after police began baton charges, firing tear gas and bullets. After police moved away, she said arrangements were made to take the students home safely and send injured male colleagues to hospital.

She said women activists’ leadership, organising and sacrifices have not received full recognition after the uprising, citing cyberbullying and mental harassment. Bithi called for rule of law, democratic rights, freedom of expression, institutional accountability and equality of opportunity, urging younger people to remain active against injustice.