Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as Bangladesh’s 23rd president on Friday evening at Bangabhaban, according to the report published on August 21, 2026. Acting Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal administered the oath. Fakhrul was elected president by members of parliament on Thursday after former president Md. Sahabuddin resigned on July 24, with about one and a half years remaining in his term.

The BNP nominated its secretary general for the presidency after the election schedule was announced earlier this month. He will reside at Bangabhaban for the next five years. The report describes his progression from student politics and teaching to elected chair of Thakurgaon municipality, before his rise in national politics.

Fakhrul joined BNP in 1990 and later served as a lawmaker and state minister in the BNP-led four-party alliance government. He became BNP’s acting secretary general in 2011 and full secretary general in 2016. Political analyst Mohiuddin Ahmad said Fakhrul showed a firm position while BNP faced difficult circumstances, including arrests and pressure on its senior leadership. Professor Shamsul Alam described him as polite, humble and hardworking.

The Bangladesh government reshuffled three secretary-level positions on the day the country’s 23rd president took the oath of office. A J M Salahuddin Nagri, chairman and secretary of the Land Reform Board, was appointed secretary of the Public Division at the President’s Office. The Public Administration Ministry issued separate notifications on Friday concerning the changes.

Rafiqul I Mohammad, secretary of the Public Division at the President’s Office, was transferred on contract as secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division. Nagri, who received the new appointment, was also serving under a contractual arrangement, according to the report.

Mohammad Shawkat Rashid Chowdhury, secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division, was transferred as chairman and secretary of the Land Reform Board. He too had been appointed on contract. The three changes complete a rotation involving the President’s Office Public Division, the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division, and the Land Reform Board.

Expatriate journalist Ilias Hossain recently made wide-ranging corruption allegations against Nurul Haque, state minister for expatriates’ welfare and president of Gono Odhikar Parishad, in a video. In response, Haque urged his party leaders, activists, supporters and well-wishers in a Facebook post on Friday to ignore comments by Ilias Hossain and Pinaki Bhattacharya. The post received nearly 100,000 reactions, with more than 90,000 marked as “Haha.”

Haque described the two YouTubers as hired content creators who spread rumours and propaganda about important people to remain in discussion and sustain their view-based businesses. He said legal action could have been taken had they been in the country, but stated that they do not live in Bangladesh or return there. He also called them a “dump of garbage” and told followers to avoid them.

In his video, Ilias alleged that Haque and his family’s fortunes changed dramatically after Haque became Dhaka University Central Students’ Union vice-president in 2019. He further alleged extortion, land grabbing, vandalism and misappropriation of government rice in the Galachipa area, alongside claims involving local political figures and development work. These were presented as allegations in the video.

National Citizen Party joint convener Maulana Ashraf Uddin Mahdi alleged that police violence against madrasa students in Brahmanbaria amounted to serious human rights violations. Speaking after visiting injured students at Jameya Darul Arkam Al Islamia Madrasa on Friday, he said around 50 students were injured and accused some media outlets of obscuring the incident through misinformation.

Mahdi said the incident began on August 19, when examinees from the madrasa asked for noise from a late-night concert at Brahmanbaria Police Lines to be reduced. According to accounts students gave him, police initially lowered the sound but later raised it again. He said students went peacefully to the main gate, where police allowed them inside, and had no intention of causing disorder or forcing entry.

He alleged that the gate was then closed and police launched a sudden attack, including baton charges and gunfire aimed at students’ heads. Mahdi said senior police officials later intervened, CCTV footage was reviewed, and three accused officers were suspended. He thanked officials for accepting the students’ demands and urged journalists to investigate the matter on site and report it responsibly.

Justice and Democracy Party (JDP) alleged that fisherman Miraj Sheikh was forcibly disappeared seven days after the government moved to repeal the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, 2025. At a protest meeting in Shahbagh, Dhaka, on 21 August, JDP convener Naim Ahmad said Sheikh was taken away on 10 April, shortly after the party learned through media on 3 April that the ordinance was being repealed. He said 133 days had passed without the government acknowledging the incident.

Ahmad alleged that the government was creating conditions for a return to a culture of enforced disappearances. He criticized the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Act, 2026, approved by the cabinet on 3 August, saying it assigns police to investigate allegations against law-enforcement agencies. He said police had not accepted a general diary against the Coast Guard.

JDP demanded immediate disclosure of Sheikh's condition and prosecution of those accused. Ahmad called for the National Human Rights Commission to investigate such cases and for government interference in the commission to end. The disappearance allegation concerns the Coast Guard and Sheikh, a fisherman from Joymonir Ghol in Mongla, Bagerhat.

The BNP government is adding six new members to its cabinet, with their swearing-in scheduled at Bangabhaban on Friday evening after the oath-taking of president-elect Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. The new appointees include four full ministers and two state ministers, according to the list published in the report. They had already arrived at Bangabhaban for the ceremony.

Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan is assigned Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partha Information; Sachin Prue Jerry Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs; and M Rashiduzzaman Millat Civil Aviation and Tourism. Humayun Kabir is to become state minister for Foreign Affairs, while Mohammad Shamim Kaiser Lincoln is to become state minister for Religious Affairs.

Sources said Information Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan is becoming an adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Millat, the current state minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, is set to become a full minister. The report said current Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam Rita may be given responsibility for another ministry. The Cabinet Division said the president-elect would administer the oaths.

Prime Minister’s Adviser Humayun Kabir is set to be promoted to state minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle scheduled for Friday, according to the report published on August 21, 2026. Discussions about his appointment are under way, but the ministry he may be assigned has not been disclosed.

Kabir earned an honours degree in international relations from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. He later completed three postgraduate degrees in different subjects from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Cambridge and Leeds Law School. His professional background includes senior responsibilities in the British government, including at a mayor’s office.

BNP leaders said his experience in international relations and diplomacy made him important in the party’s policymaking circle. Party sources said he developed close ties with Tarique Rahman while in London and assisted him with foreign affairs. After returning to Bangladesh following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, he became active in BNP politics and was appointed joint secretary general for international affairs on October 22.

BNP lawmaker M Rashiduzzaman Millat, elected from Jamalpur-1 covering Dewanganj and Bakshiganj, is expected to be promoted from state minister to full minister. The cabinet is set for a reshuffle on Friday, according to the report published by Amar Desh Online on August 21, 2026.

A government source said Millat, who serves as BNP treasurer, may become minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, a portfolio where he is currently state minister. The report described his possible appointment as part of discussions surrounding the planned cabinet changes.

Millat won the Jamalpur-1 seat in the 13th national parliamentary election as the BNP candidate using the paddy sheaf symbol. He received 173,656 votes, while his nearest rival, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Advocate Mohammad Nazmul Haque Sayeedi, received 96,783 votes.

Bangladesh Jatiya Party chairman Barrister Andalib Rahman Partha MP is set to become the new information minister in Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s cabinet, according to an Amar Desh Online report published on August 21, 2026. Several new members were awaiting at the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban as additions to the cabinet were being prepared.

The report said current Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan would serve as an adviser with full ministerial rank. Citing reliable sources, it also said the prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser, Humayun Kabir, may become a full minister.

Cabinet Division sources said changes were possible in the ministries of civil aviation, agriculture, food, power and energy, local government, and information and broadcasting. The report described the developments as part of a cabinet reshuffle but did not provide further details on the timing or scope of the expected appointments.

Opposition leader and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr Shafiqur Rahman MP said any prime ministerial visit to neighbouring India should be based on equality, equal dignity and friendship. He made the remarks on Friday afternoon at the Rajshahi metropolitan Jamaat-e-Islami member conference at the Rajshahi District Council auditorium, according to the report published on August 21, 2026.

Rahman said people in Bangladesh would no longer accept domination by anyone and wanted relations with India founded on friendship, equality and mutual dignity. He also said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, as both head of government and party chief, could act against extortion, corruption and bribery, adding that whether he wanted to do so was the key question.

Addressing party workers, Rahman described Jamaat-e-Islami as an ideological organisation that had worked over a long period to promote Islamic values and build an ideal society and state. He instructed activists to stand beside people in the upcoming local elections and work to safeguard voting rights so that no one could seize votes. He later attended a Rajshahi district Jamaat member conference as chief guest.

India’s presidential office withdrew a notice that had suggested preparations for a possible visit by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The notice, published on Friday, August 21, said the regular Change of Guard ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s forecourt would not be held on Saturday, August 22, because of a rehearsal for the formal reception of an honoured state guest.

The Press Information Bureau published the statement at 2:25pm, but it was withdrawn before the afternoon ended. Around 3pm, the presidential office issued a new message saying the press release announcing that the Change of Guard would not take place on Saturday had been withdrawn. It remains unclear whether the withdrawal signals a change in a visit schedule or a procedural problem in issuing the notice.

The report says this was expected to be Rahman’s first India visit after taking oath as Bangladesh’s prime minister, though neither Dhaka nor New Delhi had formally announced it. State or government leaders visiting India are formally received at Rashtrapati Bhavan, with a guard of honour, national anthems and the presence of the president and prime minister. A full rehearsal is generally held the previous day.

Leaders and workers of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were allegedly attacked while travelling to inspect a government primary school in Rampura Kanwarpura village, in Jaipur’s Bagru assembly area of Rajasthan, on Friday. CJP blamed local ruling BJP leaders and workers, while BJP denied the allegation and said local residents had objected to the party entering the village.

A team led by CJP co-founder Ashutosh Ranka was stopped at the village entrance before an argument reportedly escalated into violence. Videos circulated on social media showed an agitated crowd chasing CJP workers and beating several people. The party said attackers used labels including “urban Naxal,” “anti-national” and “Pakistani,” forcing its members to leave without visiting the school.

Ranka alleged that the school has long operated from a cowshed and that residents had invited the team. He said vehicles and phones were damaged, a woman member was assaulted, his shirt was torn and another member suffered a broken hand. BJP MLA Swami Balmukundacharya said villagers opposed CJP activity, while Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara blamed BJP for the incident.

Former interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus attended the swearing-in ceremony of Bangladesh’s newly elected 23rd president, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on Friday evening, August 21, 2026. The event was held at the historic Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban, where Yunus and other guests arrived before the scheduled 7:15pm start.

The ceremony also included the induction of four ministers and two state ministers into Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s cabinet. President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir administered the oath to the incoming cabinet members.

The new ministers are BNP standing committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan MP, Barrister Andalib Rahman Partha MP, Bandarban lawmaker Sachin Prue Jerry, and M Rashiduzzaman Millat, a former civil aviation and tourism minister. The state ministers are Humayun Kabir and Gaibandha-4 MP Mohammad Shamim Kaiser Lincoln. The prime minister, cabinet members, civil and military officials, and prominent individuals attended the event.

The banned Jagannath University Chhatra League hung a banner at the university’s fourth gate early Friday, August 21, 2026, commemorating those killed and injured in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally. The banner included images of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and scenes from the attack, with the words “Dreadful August 21” prominently displayed.

The banner was reportedly installed on the initiative of Mostafik Hossain Musa, joint general secretary of Jagannath University Chhatra League. Musa said the organisation offered humble tribute to victims of what he described as a brutal grenade attack intended to kill Sheikh Hasina, adding that the group had always been active on the streets and would remain so.

Acting university proctor Professor Azam Khan said he had not known about the matter. He said a banned organisation was attempting to destabilise the environment in this way and that authorities would remain alert, identify those involved and take action. The 2004 attack occurred at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital, causing casualties among party leaders, activists and others.

Mohammad Selim Uddin, amir of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka North unit and a mayoral candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation, said people are not receiving necessary treatment and diagnostic services properly at government hospitals. He made the remarks on Friday morning at a free medical camp and medicine distribution programme at National Bangla High School ground in Mirpur-2, Dhaka.

Selim Uddin said many people also cannot afford costly treatment and tests at private hospitals because of financial hardship. He stressed that healthcare should be guaranteed as a basic right and said Jamaat organises free medical camps in different places throughout the year to provide services to poor and low-income residents.

He said that, if given responsibility, initiatives would be taken to improve care standards at Dhaka North City hospitals, ensure necessary equipment and provide government treatment at lower cost. He also spoke of bringing hospitals under rapid surgery and other essential services, building international-standard hospitals and reducing the need for people to travel abroad for treatment. The day-long camp served people from Mirpur and nearby areas.