Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anny said the BNP has no place for obscene or tasteless remarks and takes action against those who violate party discipline. He made the comments while presiding over a July rally organized by Lakshmipur district BNP on Tuesday afternoon, August 4, at the N Ahmmedia Government Primary School field in Lakshmipur town.

Anny alleged that forces opposed to Bangladesh during independence had produced people such as Nasiruddin Patwary, whom he described as disrespectful. He said Bangladesh has one opposition force, Jamaat-Shibir, and claimed that a new student organization entering national politics under the name NCP had merged with Jamaat-Shibir leadership. He also said Tarque Rahman was being targeted with indecent language.

The minister described BNP as a liberal democratic party founded under President Ziaur Rahman, with its own constitution and rules, and said Tarique Rahman was alert to such issues. Anny claimed that after August 5, divisions had been created within anti-fascist unity. He referred to the killing of Krishak Dal leader Sajib in Lakshmipur on July 18, 2023. BNP chairman’s adviser and Lakshmipur-2 lawmaker Abul Khayer Bhuiyan attended as chief guest.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the issue would be resolved through street action if constitutional reform is not completed in parliament. He made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon as chief guest at a national workers’ rally at the National Press Club auditorium, organised by the Bangladesh Sramik Kalyan Federation. The gathering marked the second anniversary of the July mass uprising and the fall of fascism, calling for trials over killings during the July movement, implementation of the July Charter and a democratic state.

Referring to the BNP, Parwar said moving away from a pledge of constitutional reform toward only amendments would amount to deceiving the nation. He claimed that a November 13, 2025 order initiated a referendum for implementing the July Charter through consensus among political parties, and that more than 70 percent of voters supported it.

Parwar said a parliamentary election and referendum held in the same vote could not be selectively accepted. He called for forming a constituent assembly and completing reforms through parliament, warning that students, workers and the public would return to the streets if expectations were ignored. Federation president Atiqur Rahman also criticised the lack of a minimum wage decision and said workers’ families could not survive on Tk 12,500.

Opposition deputy leader and Jamaat-e-Islami central naib-e-ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said the time has not yet come for a final movement aimed at toppling the government. He made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon while answering reporters’ questions during visits to Chauddagram উপজেলা Health Complex and Kalikapur Union sub-health centre in Cumilla. Taher said Jamaat-e-Islami and 11 like-minded parties are continuing their movement to secure people’s basic demands.

Taher said the current campaign is intended to warn the government and raise public awareness. He said his party would remain in movement while also seeking to pursue public demands in the national parliament. According to him, the alliance is applying only the level of pressure needed to press for people’s demands and highlight the government’s mistakes.

Before the visits, Taher exchanged views with doctors and nurses working at the upazila health complex. Local officials and Jamaat leaders were present. Earlier in the day, he addressed a Chauddagram upazila law-and-order committee meeting, calling for coordinated action to maintain normal law and order in remote areas of the municipality and 13 unions and to prevent drug use.

A protest meeting demanding swift trials and exemplary punishment for those involved in killings during July and August was held at Mazar Mor in Bagerhat Sadar upazila. The event was organized by Ranbijoypur Young Sporting Club on Tuesday afternoon. Leaders of political, social and professional organizations attended, alongside local BNP leaders and activists from affiliated bodies and a large number of residents.

Bagerhat district Jubo Dal president and former chairman Fakir Tarikul Islam spoke as chief guest. The meeting was chaired by Md. Bulbul Kabir, father of July fighter martyr Alim Ahmed. Speakers also included leaders from Sadar upazila BNP, Jubo Dal, Krishak Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal and union BNP. Club president Md. Hafizur Rahman oversaw the event, while Masum Fakir and Fakir Ferdous Rahman jointly moderated it.

Speakers called for impartial and fair investigations to bring the actual perpetrators under the law. They urged action against offenders regardless of political identity, an end to the culture of impunity and an effective role for law enforcement to prevent renewed political violence. Participants pledged to continue seeking justice through peaceful and democratic programmes.

Former International Crimes Tribunal chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said martyrs such as Abu Sayed and Mugdha did not give their lives to see violence and conflict during the month marking the July anniversary. He made the remarks on Tuesday evening as the main speaker at a discussion on the first day of the “July Cultural Fest” at the University of Chittagong. The programme was organised by the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union.

Tajul Islam said people had endured a shared hardship over the past year and fought shoulder to shoulder. Questioning why people were now attacking one another, he said such scenes should not be seen in Bangladesh. He called on everyone to be conscious of their respective responsibilities.

Remembering those killed in the July mass uprising, he said the state must be completely changed out of responsibility toward every martyr’s sacrifice and blood. He said state institutions used to carry out killings during the uprising must be reformed, naming the police force, intelligence agencies and bureaucracy. The meeting was attended by the vice-chancellor, teachers, former student leaders and leaders and activists from different student organisations.

Taslima Nasrin, a writer living under asylum in India, can file criminal complaints against poets, writers and journalists she says abused her if she returns to Bangladesh, Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman said. He made the remarks on August 4 while answering journalists’ questions at a press conference in the Information Department conference room at the Secretariat.

Nasrin wrote in one of her books that several prominent poets, writers, left-wing intellectuals and science-minded journalists subjected her to rape, physical abuse and sexual harassment. She also alleged that they were preventing her from returning to the country. Asked about the government’s position, the adviser said a court would consider the matter through the normal legal process if she returned and sought legal recourse.

Rahman said criminal offences never become time-barred and that Nasrin, as an alleged victim, may go to court against those she named. Her autobiographical book “Ka,” published in India as “Dwikhandito,” includes accounts of relationships and alleged sexual abuse involving Imdadul Haq Milan and Syed Shamsul Haq. The source says Syed Shamsul Haq filed a defamation case against Nasrin after she mentioned a secret relationship.

Inqilab Mancha held a protest march on Tuesday night over allegations that activists of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir were attacked at Dhaka College. The march began at Shahbagh intersection and moved toward TSC. Participants chanted various slogans during the demonstration.

The allegations state that activists of Chhatra Dal attacked Shibir activists at Dhaka College. Chhatra Shibir claimed that at least 20 people were injured in the incident. The report does not include a response from Chhatra Dal regarding the allegation.

According to the report, Dhaka College unit Chhatra Shibir had planned a discussion titled “Expectations and Achievements of the July Uprising” and an event to honour injured people, marking the second anniversary of the July mass uprising. The alleged attack occurred at about 12:45pm while posters were being put up in front of Gallery-2 at the college.

Jagannath University Chhatra Dal said it protected Islami Chhatra Shibir members from attacks by general students following clashes surrounding an event attended by the University Grants Commission chairman. Branch convener Mehedi Hasan Himel made the claim at a press conference outside the Rafiq Building on Tuesday, August 4, held to address the campus situation.

Himel alleged that Shibir was using the JAKSU banner for its own interests and trying to destabilise the campus during the visit by the UGC chairman and several vice-chancellors. He said Shibir created a mob at the auditorium gate at the start of the programme. Although the university administration repeatedly assured them that discussions could take place after the event, he claimed they continued trying to create instability.

Tensions at the central auditorium escalated into clashes and brick-throwing around 11:45am. At least 30 people, including the JAKSU vice president, general secretary, assistant general secretary and Jagannath University Shibir president, were injured. Two journalists were hospitalised with serious injuries. Further clashes occurred at National Medical College Hospital, where additional police were deployed. Police said the dispute began over efforts to discuss demands with the UGC chairman.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said the movement held in Bangladesh during July and August was entirely a public movement, succeeding because people wanted change. He made the remarks on Tuesday at a discussion meeting at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh in Khamarbari, Dhaka. The event was titled “17 Years of Uninterrupted Struggle for Democracy and the Bloody July Awakening.”

Rahman said credit for the July movement’s success belongs to people from all walks of life, not to any individual or single political party. He said that over the past 17 years, citizens, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and activists, and several other parties that believe in democracy had remained active in anti-fascist movements. He also said they had never left the field or abandoned the public.

Calling on all political parties, the prime minister said the time had come to rebuild and advance the country. He urged patience and vigilance toward those seeking to conspire, and said the public should be alerted. He said plans presented to the public for rebuilding the country should be gradually implemented and that public expectations should be met.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said the true tribute to martyrs of the July mass uprising would be the establishment of a humane, accountable and institutionally democratic state in Bangladesh. He made the remarks on Tuesday as chief guest at a discussion marking “July Mass Uprising 2024,” organised by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Teachers’ Association at BUET’s Council Building. He said the causes behind such struggles must be removed so future generations do not have to shed blood for democracy.

Swapan said repeated movements, struggles and bloodshed before and after independence show that a stable, just and humane state system has not been established. Remembering martyrs and taking pride in their sacrifices alone is insufficient, he said, calling for deep analysis of why the state repeatedly faces such circumstances and for permanent solutions.

He stressed effective balance, accountability and constitutional dignity among parliament, the judiciary, executive and legislative branches. The minister also urged teachers to present history, the Liberation War and the July uprising to younger generations through research, analysis and reasoned discussion.

Cumilla-6 MP Monirul Haque Chowdhury called for patience and trust in the prime minister at a discussion meeting of the July Mass Uprising Memorial Festival in Cumilla on August 4. Speaking as chief guest, he said his side believed in the July mass uprising as strongly as in the Kalima Tayyiba. He urged young people to remain patient, support the prime minister and said the country would not lose its way under Tarique Rahman.

Chowdhury said it was his greatest sorrow that people now had to learn the lessons of struggle from those they fought against in 1971. He described young people as talented and articulate, saying the country would have proper leadership if they remained in leadership roles. He also appealed to participants to help save Cumilla, saying the district had deteriorated and that he had begun a campaign to address it.

Special speaker Nazmul Hasan, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, remembered those killed, injured or who lost their eyesight during the July movement. He cited the role of students from Cumilla University and Victoria College, saying Cumilla University students were attacked on July 11. Political and student leaders, as well as relatives of July martyrs, attended the event.

Bangladesh’s Election Commission has warned that overseas Bangladeshis applying to become voters will have their applications cancelled if they do not follow the process or respond to commission messages. A directive cited on August 4, 2026 said the commission will wait one week, or seven days, for a relevant person’s text-message response or return call. The information came from a directive associated with Mohammad Al-Mamun, deputy director of the National Identity Registration Wing.

After biometric information is collected, the relevant upazila or police-station election officer may call an applicant’s mobile number multiple times if necessary. If contact cannot be made by phone, the officer will send an SMS. Applicants have seven days to respond after the SMS is sent.

If no response is received within that period, the election officer will independently send an application-cancellation message through the CMS account, automatically cancelling the application. Overseas voter registration and NID distribution are currently operating at 24 missions in 14 countries. NID activities are also awaiting launch in Sweden, Bahrain, Singapore, Norway and Finland.

The 11-party alliance plans nationwide sit-in demonstrations on Thursday to protest oil and gas shortages, alleged ghost electricity bills, deteriorating law and order, and steep rises in essential commodity prices. In all metropolitan areas and districts, the alliance will hold demonstrations outside district administration offices and submit memorandums to the prime minister.

In Dhaka, the alliance will stage a sit-in at Muktangan at 11 a.m. on the same day before proceeding toward the Secretariat of the relevant ministry. The program was announced following a meeting of senior leaders of the 11-party alliance on Monday.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar called on people across the country to implement the announced program. He made the appeal in a statement sent to the media on Tuesday. Hamidur Rahman Azad, the alliance coordinator and Jamaat assistant secretary general, informed the media about the statement.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed officials to prepare a complete, accurate and transparent list of farmers across the country by December. He issued the instruction at a farmer card-related meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Division at the Secretariat on Tuesday, according to Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu. The list is to be compiled through verification and scrutiny to safeguard farmers’ rights.

The prime minister said farmer cards, carrying photographs and QR codes, should store information on each farmer’s identity, agricultural production, government assistance and agricultural markets. He instructed officials to design the cards with these requirements in mind. The meeting was told that work to open bank accounts for farmers has already begun.

The farmer card programme was introduced to help subsidies, easy-term loans, incentives and other government benefits reach genuine farmers quickly and easily. After necessary preparations are completed, cards will be distributed to farmers in phases. The scheme is set to benefit 4.3 million farmers in the current fiscal year, with plans to bring about 20 million farmers under the programme within the next three years.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said bilateral relations between Iran and Iraq are currently at their highest level. He made the remarks on Monday night in Najaf, Iraq’s holy city, according to comments published by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Araghchi said Tehran’s relationship with the Iraqi government was in its best condition. He also said recent discussions during the Iraqi prime minister’s visit to Tehran had been highly productive.

The foreign minister said cooperation between Tehran and Baghdad is not limited to politics. He cited coordinated positions on various shared issues as well as close cooperation in the economic and security sectors. Against a changing geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the close Iran-Iraq relationship is viewed as an important part of regional diplomatic and security cooperation.