National Citizen Party (NCP) northern chief organiser Sarzis Alam called on young people to work together for change at the party’s “July Awakening” programme in Ajmiriganj, Habiganj, on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking as chief guest at the Shaheed Minar premises, he said the country’s people want change and that the youth must unite to help bring it about.

The NCP organised the programme to demand implementation of a referendum verdict, job creation for young people and stronger protection of the country’s borders. Alam said implementing the referendum verdict while respecting public opinion, creating employment for unemployed youth and strengthening border security were demands of the time.

Alam also said that the country and its people could not be safe in the hands of a political party capable of killing 158 of its own leaders and activists. He called for an accountable, people-oriented state system to safeguard people’s lives, property and democratic rights. The NCP is presenting its various demands to the public through its nationwide “July Awakening” programme. Central and local party leaders attended the event.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman directed the Education Ministry to improve education quality, ensure regular classroom attendance, and strengthen effective teaching. He issued the instructions on Tuesday, July 28, after visiting the ministry for the first time since assuming office. The directions were delivered during an exchange meeting with senior ministry officials, heads of departments and agencies, and experienced education কর্মকর্তারা working at the field level.

The prime minister also emphasized modern, continuous training for teachers, expansion of technology-based education, and stronger administrative accountability. The review meeting received detailed presentations on the ministry’s ongoing activities, development projects, progress in implementing education policy, and administrative effectiveness. After reviewing those activities, he gave necessary guidance to the officials concerned.

Field-level education officials presented their experiences on conditions in the sector, existing challenges, and measures needed to improve standards. Rahman said their experience and advice should receive proper importance in policymaking and implementation. He described quality education for every student as a government priority and said integrated initiatives, effective oversight, and timely planning would continue across all levels of the education system.

Jagannath University unit Chhatra Dal has provided financial assistance to the family of Ikramul Haque Sajid, a Jagannath University student described as a martyr of the July-August mass uprising. The assistance was handed to Sajid’s mother at an event held at the unit’s office on July 28. Unit convener Mehedi Hasan Himel, member secretary Shamsul Arefin, joint conveners, activists and family members attended.

Arefin said Sajid’s blood had contributed to the struggle to establish voting rights for Bangladesh’s people. He said the group would work to build a country with stronger democracy and protected rights to speak and receive education. Himel said the central Chhatra Dal and the Jagannath University unit, acting on BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s instructions, had stood beside martyr families and would continue to do so.

Sajid’s mother thanked the university unit for its support and urged those holding responsibilities to remember the martyrs’ sacrifices and check on their families. Sajid was a 2018-19 academic session student in the Accounting and Information Systems department. He was seriously injured by police gunfire in Mirpur on August 4 last year during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and died while receiving treatment at CMH on August 14 at 2:15 pm.

Police in Ramu, Cox’s Bazar, have filed an anti-terrorism case against 71 people over allegations that members of the banned Chhatra League held a motorcycle showdown and procession. The case also names 30 to 40 unidentified people as accused. Ramu police sub-inspector Muhammad Nurul Absar filed the case on Monday. According to the first information report, the event took place at about 11:30am on 26 July on the highway in front of Zamzam Filling Station in Purba Murapara, Jowarianala.

The report alleges that the procession was held on the instruction of Cox’s Bazar district Chhatra League president SM Saddam Hossain and under the leadership of Ramu upazila joint conveners Tarek Uddin Mishuk and Ershadul Kawsar Sakib. Participants allegedly carried banners bearing Sheikh Hasina’s image, festoons and sticks, and chanted anti-government slogans. Police alleged that the gathering sought to create public fear and conduct anti-state activities.

Police said participants fled on motorcycles when officers arrived around noon, leaving behind a banner, 13 wooden sticks and 19 pieces of brick. A seizure list was prepared in the presence of three local witnesses. Police said they identified 31 people through local information and video footage analysis. Operations are under way to arrest the accused and identify those who remain unnamed.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has condemned an alleged attack and vandalism at the home of Jessore-4 lawmaker and Jessore district Jamaat chief Golam Rasul. In a statement sent to the media on July 28, the party’s secretary general, Mia Golam Porwar, protested the incident, which he said occurred in the Nilগঞ্জ area of Jessore city.

Porwar alleged that the attack was planned and carried out by a group of assailants with backing from BNP leaders and activists. He said an attack on a lawmaker’s residence could worsen the law-and-order situation. He demanded the immediate identification and prosecution of those involved in the attack and those who allegedly incited it.

The statement said one of Rasul’s daughters is mentally ill and is receiving treatment in places including Hyderabad, India, and elsewhere in Bangladesh. Porwar said an attack over her conduct was unacceptable and described the matter as already settled. Jamaat also alleged targeted misinformation on social and other media intended to make the party controversial, urging accurate reporting and calling on law-enforcement personnel to act responsibly.

Bangladesh and Japan have agreed to strengthen cooperation on infrastructure development, transport modernization, and public transport, including metro rail. The issue was discussed on Tuesday at a courtesy meeting in the Road Transport and Highways Division conference room at the Secretariat between Sheikh Rabiul Alam, minister for road transport and bridges, shipping, and railways, and Uno Yoshimasa, special adviser to Japan’s prime minister.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam thanked Japan for its longstanding support for Bangladesh’s infrastructure and communications sectors. He said Japan’s continued assistance as a development partner was highly important, particularly for building modern, safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly public transport systems. He said Japanese experience, technical knowledge and technical cooperation were playing an important role in developing such systems, including metro rail.

Yoshimasa said modern and sustainable public transport infrastructure was essential to match Bangladesh’s growing urbanization and economic growth. He said both countries could work more closely on infrastructure, metro rail, rail connectivity and road transport on the basis of mutual trust and cooperation. He also assured continued Japanese support for Bangladesh’s development. Senior transport officials and the managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited attended the meeting.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been named chairman of the trustee board of the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust, while Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan has been appointed president of the trust’s executive committee. The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs issued separate notifications on the two bodies, according to the report.

Ahmed Azam Khan has also been made vice chairman of the trustee board led by the prime minister. The same individuals have been included in both committees. Their members include State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraq Hossain, Kishoreganj-4 lawmaker Md Fazlur Rahman, Cumilla-6 lawmaker Monirul Haque Chowdhury, and Noakhali-2 lawmaker Zainul Abdin Farroque.

The managing director of the Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust has been appointed member secretary of both committees. The secretaries of the finance, industries and liberation war affairs ministries have also been named trustees or members. The notifications, dated July 22, were published in gazette form on Monday.

National Citizen Party-NCP convener and opposition chief whip Nahid Islam said activists used to wait for Jagannath University processions during the July movement. He made the remarks as chief guest at a discussion and prize-giving event at the university’s central auditorium on 28 July, marking the second anniversary of the July mass uprising. The Jagannath University unit of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti organized the event, titled “July Mass Uprising: From Spark to Continuing Revolution.”

Nahid praised Jagannath University students’ role in the uprising and remembered those killed and others who made sacrifices. He said the institution’s students had played leading roles in nearly all democratic movements in Bangladesh but had not always received proper recognition. He also stressed the need to develop and modernize the university, saying its central location enables talented students from across the country to study there.

Families of those killed and injured, teachers, students, and representatives of political and social organizations addressed the meeting. Speakers called for a discrimination-free Bangladesh, an end to political repression and violence on campuses, and united work to fulfill the aspirations of July. The university proctor said the banned Chhatra League would not be allowed to return to campus.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj said the government has allocated the highest education budget in history, describing education as the nation’s biggest investment. He made the remarks on Tuesday after visiting several government primary schools in Jaintapur and Gowainghat upazilas of Sylhet. The government is working toward raising education-sector allocations to 5 percent of gross domestic product within the next four years.

Hajjaj said initiatives include infrastructure development, technology-based learning, a modern curriculum, teacher training, stronger foundational skills for students and an effective assessment system. A new assessment framework is being prepared to ensure classroom-level reading, writing and mathematics skills. All primary institutions, public and private, will be required to operate under government policies and standards, while teacher training, key performance indicator assessments and classroom quality monitoring are being strengthened.

A six-hour workshop in Sylhet division recently provided guidance on the new assessment method, grade-based learning quality and administrative oversight. Similar workshops are scheduled to be completed in all divisions by August 17. Hajjaj said administrative action would be taken if negligence is proven, and the ministry would review written proposals on mother-tongue education for small ethnic groups.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, has called for protest rallies across Bangladesh on Wednesday, July 29, over an alleged attack during its peaceful march programme in Habiganj. The party announced the programme in a letter sent by its office cell on Tuesday night, July 28.

In the letter, NCP alleged that BNP carried out a “terrorist attack” on the motorcade of its chief organiser Sarjis Alam and chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary. The party condemned and protested the alleged incident, saying it had decided to observe party protest programmes nationwide in response.

NCP instructed all of its metropolitan, district, upazila and thana branches to arrange protest and demonstration rallies in their respective areas. It also called on the relevant organisational units to make necessary preparations for orderly implementation of the programme and ensure that party leaders and activists attend on time.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and opposition chief whip, condemned an attack on the convoy of NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary and chief organiser Sarjis Alam during the party’s July march in Habiganj. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, he demanded the swift arrest of those involved.

Islam alleged that local BNP leaders and activists carried out the surprise armed attack. He said several journalists and NCP leaders and activists were injured, and claimed the incident took place in the presence of law-enforcement personnel.

The NCP convener said attackers took the party’s media team microbus inside the Habiganj district circuit house and attacked it there. According to his post, they damaged the vehicle and took away mobile phones and cameras. Islam called for the immediate arrest of those responsible and for exemplary punishment.

The National Citizen Party alleged that local BNP leaders and activists attacked a convoy carrying its chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary and northern region chief organiser Sarjis Alam in Habiganj. The alleged incident occurred as they were returning to Moulvibazar after completing the “July March” programme in Habiganj.

NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan made the allegation in a post on his verified Facebook page on the night of July 28. He said journalists and several NCP leaders and activists were injured in the attack. He also described it as concerning that the incident took place in the presence of police.

Bhuiyan further alleged that an NCP media team microbus was taken inside the district circuit house and vandalised. He said the attackers took away several mobile phones and cameras from the scene. The report did not include responses from BNP representatives or police regarding the allegations.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held a courtesy meeting with Uno Yoshimasa, special adviser to Japan’s prime minister, at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat on Tuesday, July 28. The talks focused on strengthening the Bangladesh-Japan strategic partnership and taking bilateral relations to a new level.

Rahman sought more active Japanese cooperation in human-resource development, skills enhancement and other sectors. He urged the Japanese delegation to pursue recruitment of skilled Bangladeshi health workers, agricultural labourers and drivers through Japanese-language proficiency. He also called for increased investment by Japanese companies in Bangladesh and stressed joint work to expand trade and economic cooperation.

The prime minister said the government would provide full support if Japan showed interest in establishing another industrial park similar to the one in Araihazar, Narayanganj. Participants also discussed the planned December 16 opening of the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, progress on the ongoing Mass Rapid Transit project and other infrastructure cooperation. Ministers, advisers, Japanese aviation officials and Japan’s ambassador to Bangladesh attended the meeting.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, alleged that its march in the Circuit House area of Habiganj town was attacked on Tuesday afternoon. The party accused local BNP leaders and activists of carrying out the assault. At least 10 NCP leaders and activists were injured, while several journalists’ vehicles were vandalised, according to the report.

Sarzis Alam, NCP’s chief organiser for the northern region, alleged that “terrorist forces” of Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal carried out the attack. In a video posted Tuesday night on NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary’s Facebook account, he said some people suffered broken hands and head injuries, while one worker was struck in the eye with a rod.

Sarzis said the district secretary was injured while trying to save a worker, and alleged that attackers took cameras and phones. He further claimed that seven or eight injured people faced another attack at the gate of the sadar hospital while being taken for treatment and were prevented from entering. He also alleged that police present during the attack took no action.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, BNP chairman and chief patron of Amra BNP Poribar, sent a gift for Saifa Nur Subha, the newborn daughter of injured July fighter Md Sujon. On July 28, an Amra BNP Poribar delegation visited Sujon’s home in Keraniganj, Dhaka, met his family and delivered the gift on the prime minister’s behalf.

The delegation was led by Engineer Ashraf Uddin Bakul, member of parliament for Narsingdi-5 and an adviser to the organisation. It included Advocate Nipun Roy Chowdhury, general secretary of Dhaka district BNP and a reserved-seat member of parliament, and Krishibid Mokhchedul Momin Mithun, member secretary of Amra BNP Poribar.

Delegation members inquired about the condition of newborn Saifa Nur Subha, as well as Sujon’s physical health and his family’s overall situation. Sujon was injured during the student-public uprising of 2024, according to the report. Other organisation members and local BNP leaders and activists were also present during the visit.