A group of 1,230 prominent citizens, including Islamic scholars, teachers, doctors, engineers and businesspeople, has demanded punitive action against those involved in a reported same-sex marriage at Dhakeshwari Temple. The demand was made in a statement sent on August 4 by Engineer Muhammad Sadat, spokesperson for Muljobodh Andolon.

The statement said a marriage involving two men at the temple had recently been circulated in media reports and on social media. It alleged that a man named Kamal Hossain, who identified himself as transgender or a transitioned woman, married another man. The statement also asserted that the country’s constitution or laws do not recognize transgender or transgender woman as a gender category.

The signatories said no visible administrative action had been taken despite more than a week having passed since the incident. They called for an investigation and legal action against those found responsible. Signatories included university teachers, religious figures and professionals, among them Professor Mokhtar Ahmad, Mufti Saiful Islam, Dr Mohammad Sarwar Hossain, Asif Mahtab Uts and former secretary Nurul Alam.

Jagannath University has formed a four-member inquiry committee to investigate an incident during its July Mass Uprising Day 2026 programme at the university’s central auditorium. The programme included a discussion meeting, photo exhibition and prize distribution. The university’s public relations, information and publication office announced the committee in an emergency notice on Tuesday, August 4. The incident occurred after tension arose over students entering the event with posters containing various demands.

The notice said the administration had held coordination meetings and exchanges with active student organisations and relevant stakeholders in advance to ensure the national programme was conducted peacefully and with dignity. UGC Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed attended as chief guest. The administration said some students were involved in chasing, counter-chasing and assault during the event, condemning the incident.

Professor Dr Md Azam Khan, director of the Institute of Social Work Professor Mostafa Hasan Education and Research Institute, will convene the committee. Its members are chemistry professor Dr Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman, political science associate professor Md Mezbah Ul Azam Saudagar, and Deputy Registrar Mohammad Shahidullah. The committee has been instructed to submit its report quickly, after which action will be taken under university rules.

Clashes that began at Jagannath University on August 4 during an event involving the University Grants Commission chairman spilled into nearby Dhaka National Medical College Hospital. After people injured on campus were taken for treatment, activists from Kabi Nazrul Government College Chhatra Dal and Jagannath University Chhatra Shibir engaged in clashes, counter-chases and attacks. The violence caused panic across the hospital area and reportedly temporarily disrupted treatment for patients.

Witnesses and university sources said JAKSU representatives tried to enter the event carrying placards demanding faster handover of work on the second campus to the army, an interim housing project in Keraniganj, and improvements to the medical centre. They were stopped from entering, triggering tensions involving Chhatra Dal, JAKSU, Chhatra Shibir, Chhatra Shakti and other groups. Arguments, torn placards and scuffles developed into repeated clashes.

Several JAKSU leaders, Chhatra Shakti leaders, activists from student groups and journalists were reported injured. Witnesses alleged that injured people seeking treatment were attacked by opponents at the hospital, where some general patients were also reportedly hurt. Additional police were deployed at the campus and hospital. JAKSU and several student organisations demanded arrests, while Chhatra Dal made counter-allegations.

A clash broke out between Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir and Chhatra Dal activists at Dhaka College over the posting of event posters, leaving several people injured. The incident occurred at about 12:45pm on Tuesday in front of Gallery-02, where Shibir activists were putting up posters for a discussion titled “Expectations and Achievements of the July Uprising” and a ceremony honoring people injured in July. Shibir said at least 20 of its activists were injured, including one person with a serious head injury.

Shibir finance secretary Mamun Sheikh said the programme had been announced in advance and that activists were posting posters peacefully when Chhatra Dal activists launched a sudden attack. Shibir identified the seriously injured person as its Dhaka College unit finance secretary Abdul Malek and said he was admitted to Popular Medical College Hospital. The event had been scheduled to begin at 2pm.

Chhatra Dal, however, alleged that Shibir had carried out a planned attack on its activists. After the first incident, Chhatra Dal activists reportedly gathered near the residential halls around 1:30pm and later clashed again with Shibir activists in front of the college’s main gate. Activists were seen there carrying sticks, while allegations emerged that journalists were prevented from recording video footage.

Several leaders and activists from Islami Chhatra Shibir, Chhatra Shakti, the Jagannath University Central Students’ Union (JCSU), and other student groups were allegedly injured during an attack linked to displaying placards at Jagannath University. The incident reportedly occurred as JCSU representatives tried to enter the central auditorium for an event attended by the UGC chairman, according to a report published on August 4.

Those reported seriously injured included JCSU Vice President Md Riazul Islam, General Secretary Abdul Alim Arif, Assistant General Secretary Masud Rana, legal affairs secretary Faruk, and Chhatra Shakti president Shahin Mia and general secretary Ferdous Sheikh. The placards highlighted demands for rapid handover of work on the university’s second campus to the army, implementation of a temporary housing project in Keraniganj, and improved medical-centre services.

JCSU representatives alleged that they were stopped from entering, followed by arguments and scuffling, and that their placards were seized and torn. The report said videos circulating on social media showed Chhatra Dal convener Mehedi Hasan Himel blocking entry. At the latest update, clashes were continuing and JCSU leaders were protesting outside the auditorium with torn placards.

Jiaur Rahman Social Welfare Council, or JSP, launched activities of its Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation branch by paying tribute at the graves of martyred President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. A programme marking the launch was held on July 30.

At the event, organisational leaders pledged to follow Ziaur Rahman’s ideals, engage in social welfare activities and work to improve the living standards of disadvantaged communities. They also expressed commitment to stand beside helpless people and serve as a voluntary professional organisation.

Following the tribute, newly formed committee president Md Akul Hossain and general secretary Ashraf Siddiq spoke. Central leaders said they hoped the organisation’s activities would support implementation of the government’s announced 31-point programme, and drew relevant authorities’ attention to reopening closed sugar mills to create employment for unemployed youth.

Opposition leader in the national parliament and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr Shafiqur Rahman warned that any attempt to make people forget July would be resisted with the public. He spoke on Tuesday morning at the CIRDAP International Conference Centre in the capital as chief guest at the launch of the book “July Revolution 2024 in the Background of the Azadi Struggle,” organised by OIRD.

Rahman said offers and inducements were being made to divert attention from the July issue, but insisted that the public verdict must be accepted. He called for the contributions of those involved in the July 2024 movement to be accurately recorded. He also criticised the failure to prepare proper lists of Liberation War fighters and martyrs.

He urged the government to take steps to write accurate history and accept the referendum verdict. Rahman said justice for killings, disappearances and torture had become stalled, and said no sign of the July Memory Museum’s opening was visible by August 4 despite a stated plan to open it on August 5. He also asked the government not to harm July fighters.

Section 144 has been imposed at Begum Rokeya University to maintain peace and order on campus after Chhatra Dal and Islami Chhatra Shibir announced protest programmes at overlapping times. University Proctor Professor Dr Md Ferdous Rahman said the measure was taken to keep the environment calm and stable. The report was published on August 4, 2026.

Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir's Rangpur metropolitan branch announced a protest march and rally from Lalbagh intersection to Abu Sayed intersection at 5:30 pm. Rangpur metropolitan Chhatra Dal announced a protest march and protest meeting at the Abu Sayed intersection park crossing at 4 pm.

Earlier on Monday, repeated clashes occurred between Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir over a banner displayed at an exhibition titled “July Against Oppression” at the university's Independence Memorial Field. The clashes involved brickbats, chairs being thrown, and chases and counter-chases. Several people from both sides were injured, according to the report.

In an article published on August 4, 2026, Rajshahi University social work professor Dr. Md. Fakhrul Islam describes Bangladesh’s 2024 “July 36” as a major political milestone. He writes that an movement initially centred on reforming public-service job quotas expanded into a broad expression of demands for democratic accountability, citizen rights and a renewed relationship between the state and its people. The article characterises it as a generational political emergence and a mass uprising.

The author says employment pressures, questions over administrative accountability, political polarisation and young people’s uncertainty about the future widened the movement’s social base. Students were joined in solidarity by teachers, parents, lawyers, doctors, artists, writers, workers, members of the public and Bangladeshis living abroad. Smartphones, live video, social media and citizen journalism, he argues, gave the events a digital character and rapidly brought them into international discussion.

Islam says political instability can affect investment, trade, development cooperation and a country’s international image. He calls for balancing international cooperation with protection of national interests and an independent foreign policy. The article argues that durable change requires institutional reform in the judiciary, electoral system, administration, police, education and economic structures, alongside impartial research and preservation of historical information.

In a personal account published by Amar Desh on August 4, 2026, a student from Eden Mohila College recounts joining the “Long March to Dhaka” during the July movement. She says she left from Chittagong Road on the morning of August 3 with her mother, despite family concerns, and her younger sister later joined them. After their bus stopped as a large procession approached, she chose to walk forward and take part in the march.

The writer describes meeting a teenage girl who also wanted to join, and says the number of participants grew as they advanced. At Matuail, police attempted to disperse the procession, causing people to scatter briefly. According to the account, participants soon regrouped and resumed chanting slogans.

The group eventually reached Shaheed Minar, where the writer says people had arrived from different parts of the country. She portrays the gathering as one that brought together students, workers, teachers and guardians against injustice. The article characterizes July as a lasting symbol of courage, unity and resistance to injustice.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlement Minister Orit Strock have called for a new cabinet vote on a plan to deploy a multinational security force in Gaza. In a report published on August 4, 2026, the two right-wing ministers also urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revoke the previous approval until another vote is held.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the ministers said the cabinet had been given incomplete and misleading information when it approved the Board of Peace plan. The approved proposal also includes establishing an experimental humanitarian zone for Palestinians in Gaza, the report said.

The Board of Peace, formed at the initiative of US President Donald Trump to stabilize Gaza, recently outlined the plan. Trump said it would involve Hamas disarming and Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza. After objections emerged within Israel, however, the board said Hamas must be fully disarmed before Israeli forces leave. The report said differences between the Israeli government and the United States have become visible, particularly over Hamas’s disarmament and the timetable for an Israeli troop withdrawal.

US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran are under way and described them as Tehran’s “last chance” to reach an agreement, despite Iran’s Foreign Ministry denying any talks with Washington. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had agreed to continue discussions at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and several other countries.

Trump identified reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian nuclear disarmament as the two main issues in the discussions. He said reopening the waterway could perhaps happen as soon as the next day, while nuclear disarmament could take longer to implement. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is entirely civilian, while Western countries allege it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is discussing safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and is close to an acceptable arrangement. He said a full reopening of the strait is not likely immediately. On Tuesday, UKMTO reported that a cargo vessel near Oman’s coast in the strait was struck by a missile from an unknown source; the incident is under investigation.

A new nationwide online Reuters-Ipsos poll found US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 35 percent, according to a report published on August 4, 2026. The rating was 37 percent in the previous month’s survey, marking a decline of two percentage points over one month.

The report linked the decline to voter dissatisfaction with the handling of the economy and higher energy prices caused by the war with Iran. For the first time in nearly a decade, respondents viewed Democrats as more capable than Republicans of managing the economy. Political debate in the United States has also focused on Trump’s economic policies, inflation and energy costs.

The polling trend could concern Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, whose outcome may determine control of Congress for the following two years. Trump disputed the assessment of his popularity, saying his real polling results were better than at any previous time. In a Truth Social post, he said those results were not produced by what he called the fake news media.

The National Citizens Party (NCP) has said it is not leaving the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance formed ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election. In a report published on August 4, several senior NCP leaders said joint alliance programmes and regular meetings remain under way, and neither the alliance nor the party has discussed an exit. Jamaat and NCP both dismissed reports of an NCP departure as false rumours and fabricated propaganda.

The two parties said efforts were being made to create confusion and divisions while the alliance is conducting street-based movements over implementation of the July Charter, state reform and trials for killings. Alliance coordinator Hamidur Rahman Azad said NCP convener Nahid Islam had conveyed the same position to him. NCP leaders said the party wants to strengthen its own organisation while remaining in the alliance, including through July march programmes across the country down to the upazila level.

At a liaison committee meeting last Thursday at the opposition leader’s residence on Minto Road, the alliance decided to hold a major rally in Paltan on August 5 and announce further political programmes there. Discussions also continue over local government elections, with possible alliance-level accommodation still under consideration despite separate city corporation candidates.

The government will take legal action in line with a court directive if any media outlet broadcasts statements by ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister’s information adviser Dr. Jahed Ur Rahman said. Speaking at a press conference at the Secretariat on Tuesday, he urged media organisations to comply with the court order and said the government would take necessary steps if it was violated.

Rahman said the government had previously warned the media on the issue. He said announcing in advance that Hasina’s statements would be published or broadcast would amount to disobeying the court order. Compliance with court directives is a constitutional duty for individuals and institutions, he said, while ensuring implementation of court decisions is the government’s responsibility. He added that, personally, he would not favour blocking her statements without a court restriction.

On Hasina’s recent announcement about returning to the country, Rahman said the government wants to bring her back and has sought her extradition from India. He said she is currently a death-sentenced accused and would be arrested if she returned, while being guaranteed legal rights including self-defence and appointing a lawyer. The government would accept the court’s final verdict, he said.