Kakroach Janata Party, or CJP, has demanded the swift arrest of those it says were responsible for the death of Mofik, father of volunteer Sheikh Abdul Hafiz, after an alleged attack linked to a government school inspection in Korisunda, Bankura district, West Bengal. CJP said Hafiz inspected conditions at a school in his village on August 13 and that Mofik died from injuries while under treatment on August 15.

According to the party, armed people identified as local BJP workers entered Hafiz’s home that evening. CJP alleged that Hafiz was pressured to record a video apologising for highlighting poor school conditions and saying he had acted under outside influence. The party said the family was attacked after he refused, leaving Hafiz with serious neck injuries and Mofik with severe head injuries.

CJP alleged that no medico-legal case was initiated after the attack and that an FIR was initially not filed. It called for an impartial investigation into the death, the attack and the alleged failure to take legal action. The party also urged Indus police station to ensure Hafiz and his family’s safety, and said a national working committee delegation led by co-convener Ashutosh Ranka would visit West Bengal.

Student protesters in India’s Jharkhand state have demanded Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s resignation over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations and announced plans to surround his official residence on August 20. The JPSC-JSSC Reforms Forum said accountability must be ensured and responsibility fixed over the alleged scandal.

On Saturday, the protesters held a Tiranga Yatra during the 22nd day of their indefinite movement. Forum spokesperson Piyush Singh said students had previously appealed to the government through Gandhian methods, but their demands were not being heard. He said they would move toward the chief minister’s residence and remain there until their demands were met if the government did not act.

The students reiterated demands to cancel the JSSC-CGL examination and order a CBI investigation. They have also sought a full inquiry either by the CBI or by a committee of retired judges from outside Jharkhand. Forum leader Ravindra Paswan accused the JMM and Congress of politicising the issue and urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to withdraw support from the JMM-led coalition if their demands were ignored.

India is reducing reliance on foreign and older weapons while building a technology-driven military capability across air, land and sea, according to a report published on August 16, 2026. The report identifies air defence, border forces, rockets, warships, supersonic missiles, combat aircraft and drones as central parts of this expansion. India’s defence structure had largely depended on weapons and equipment inherited from the British era after independence.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation, established in 1958, has worked on missiles, radars, combat aircraft, warships, armoured vehicles and drones. The report cites indigenous air missile systems, MRSAM, S-400, Barak-8, Spyder and QRSAM as elements of layered air defence. It describes BrahMos, developed jointly by India and Russia, as a supersonic cruise missile deployable from land, sea and air platforms.

India is also increasing the use of Pinaka rocket systems, radars, drone-defence systems and electronic warfare technology in its army. Naval capabilities include Barak-8 or LR-SAM and VL-SRSAM systems. Development work is cited on Tapas, Rustom, Archer, Ghatak and Swift drones, while research is expanding in radars, sensors, command and control, artificial intelligence and hypersonic technology.

India’s recent student protests over alleged irregularities in education and examination paper leaks have brought the “Azadi” slogan back into public focus. Authorities sent workers on July 26 to erase protest graffiti near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. A day earlier, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned amid a movement led by the Cockroach Janata Party against an examination scandal. The protest entrance carried the words “#2026 Gen-Z Revolution!!!”, while Azadi, or freedom, became a central call for education reform and rights.

During the protests, a 20-year-old climbed a tree and played the song “Azadi” through a powerful loudspeaker, prompting the crowd to sing along and raise their hands. The song gained renewed attention after video of police personnel beating students on Parliament Street spread quickly. The slogan also reached Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai. Left-wing student groups, including AISA and the Students’ Federation of India, helped sustain the movement.

The slogan had provoked intense political controversy at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2016, when students faced sedition allegations and arrests. The report traces its modern political roots to feminist resistance in Pakistan and resistance in Kashmir. Students in the current movement describe Azadi as a symbol of education, fundamental rights, freedom of expression and political change.

Indian psychiatrist, essayist, fiction writer and poet Dr Kamal Hossain has died after a prolonged illness. He died at 7 a.m. on Saturday, India’s Independence Day, after suffering a severe stroke on August 1 and receiving intensive care at a private hospital, where he was placed on a ventilator. His age was not stated.

Hailing from Berhampore in Murshidabad, Hossain built a prominent literary career alongside his medical work. His first short-story collection, “Onno Prokash,” was published in 1979 by Buddhadeb Bose and Pratibha Bose’s Kabita Bhaban. His writings addressed challenges within post-independence Muslim society and families as well as wider Bengali society. His novel “Param Bishwaser Gondho” won first prize in the Narayan Gangopadhyay Memorial Novel Competition, while “Dwipbhumi” received the Proma Award.

Hossain also treated patients at a Mother Teresa institution and regularly served rural residents at a clinic in North 24 Parganas. He had first suffered a stroke on November 26, 2022. Ahmad Hasan Imran, former parliamentarian and editor of “Puber Kolom,” expressed grief and prayed for the deceased and his family.

The Ruthiya family of Madhya Pradesh, India, has asked the UK government to repay, with interest, a claimed 35,000-rupee loan made by its ancestor Jummalal Ruthiya during the First World War. The family says a certificate dated June 4, 1917 documents the transaction, which it says was intended to support Indian soldiers serving with British forces. It has not yet set the total amount it will seek after calculating present value, interest, compound interest and related costs.

According to the family, the money was provided through a British government official working at the Bhopal Agency. Gautam Ruthiya said the UK Debt Management Office requested relevant documents and said the matter had been sent for investigation. British authorities have not confirmed that they will accept the claim, and the document request is part of a verification process.

The family says it found the document in February while reviewing old records for another case and then contacted the UK government through a lawyer. Authorities have sought family records, genealogy, old certificates, details of the loan amount and information on forms used at the time. The family says the loan was never repaid or settled and may consider legal action or arbitration after original documents are verified.

Weeklong Generation Z protests in India in July have shifted attention from religious identity politics toward education, jobs, economic security and expanded opportunities, according to the report. It says the urban, educated youth-led demonstrations have left Prime Minister Narendra Modi politically weaker than at any point in the past decade. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also lost two important state assembly by-elections in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh earlier this month, including a seat it had held for nearly three decades.

The report distinguishes the current student movement from earlier farmers’ protests and demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act. It argues that the protesters come from a group once seen as an enthusiastic BJP political base and a social vanguard of the Hindutva project. That makes the unrest an internal political rebellion that is harder for the Modi government to dismiss or suppress through familiar narratives.

India’s economy has grown from about $2 trillion in 2014 to about $4 trillion, the report says, but broad economic security and employment have not kept pace. More than 450 million people work in the informal economy, while roughly two-thirds of unemployed people are educated youth. The report identifies the gap between promised economic transformation and young people’s lived experience as a source of growing frustration.

Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, is launching its “Fix the School” campaign to improve infrastructure and accountability in rural government schools in India. The initiative will begin from Santuk Pimpuri village in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, the home village of party founder Abhijit Deepak. A statement said the programme would be inaugurated at 7:30am on Friday, around India’s Independence Day.

Speaking to journalists after returning from Delhi, Deepak said he would ask local leaders to renovate the government school and ensure basic facilities such as benches and drinking water. He said CJP had formed several teams that would visit villages, speak with residents and sarpanches, and urge action to improve school conditions through broader participation.

Deepak cited videos in which girls complain that they must walk seven kilometres to school and that there is no road to reach it. He urged parents to inspect their children’s schools and report shortcomings to CJP. He said Independence Day rallies should take place, but education should also receive importance.

Bomb threats were issued to six key locations in India’s capital, New Delhi, on Friday, a day before the country’s Independence Day. The targets included the Delhi High Court, Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3 and four other sites. Authorities strengthened security across the capital after the threats were received through separate email and phone calls.

An email sent to the Delhi High Court threatened an explosion at 2:11 pm on Saturday. The same message also threatened explosions at various district courts in Delhi at 3:11 pm. Despite the threat, the High Court’s judicial proceedings faced no immediate disruption and continued according to the scheduled timetable.

Phone threats also targeted Jamnagar House, Jhandewalan Building, the Saket office on MB Road, IGI Airport Terminal 3 and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office in Delhi Cantonment. Delhi Fire Service said it received information between 11:18 am and 11:40 am on Friday and dispatched vehicles to every location. Authorities said no suspicious object had been found at any threatened site.

Bangladesh Nizam-e-Islam Party expressed deep concern and strong anger over allegations that Friday azan broadcasts were stopped through loudspeakers at several mosques in Kolkata and that loudspeakers were removed from many mosques. Acting Amir Allama Abdul Qayyum Subhani and Secretary-General Maulana Musa bin Izhar made the comments in a joint statement sent to the media on August 14.

The leaders said allegations of removing mosque loudspeakers and obstructing the normal broadcasting of azan should not be treated lightly. They said any noise-pollution law should be enforced equally for everyone. They argued that administrative pressure, intimidation or discriminatory measures directed at the places of worship of a particular religious community would directly harm religious freedom and the rule of law.

The statement described azan as an important religious symbol for Muslims and said attempts to restrict it under the pretext of noise control would be unacceptable. The leaders called differing enforcement against places of worship of different religions a troubling double standard for a democratic state. They said lasting social harmony requires justice and equal rights, warning that deprivation of religious rights and discriminatory law enforcement cannot establish permanent peace.

Indian social activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk has called for a peaceful revolution in the country’s method of selecting political leaders. In a video message issued ahead of Independence Day, he urged the start of a “second independence movement” for India. Wangchuk said fundamental changes were needed to make India a developed and respectable state by 2047, and asked citizens to identify selfless, fearless, principled and capable women and men from their regions.

Wangchuk said he had used a recent period of illness to reflect on India’s future. Comparing India’s progress with several Asian neighbouring countries, he warned that the country could fall behind its development goals if its current course continues. He linked national progress to the strength of the education system, saying the country’s future would remain behind as long as education lagged.

He said India’s problems could not be blamed on one political party, arguing that governments led by different parties had treated dissent similarly. Wangchuk also raised concerns over elected representatives facing serious criminal allegations. He plans to consult people across Indian states and cities, meet individuals able to help devise a new map for political and institutional change, and encourage wider circulation and regional-language translation of his message.

Many mosques in Kolkata and adjoining areas did not broadcast the Friday call to prayer on August 14, according to the report, which said some worshippers were unable to join prayers properly. The report linked the situation to alleged removal of mosque loudspeakers and said fear and frustration had spread among Muslims. It also alleged that the BJP government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had stopped road prayers.

An imam from Park Circus alleged that loudspeakers were being taken away and urged people to raise the national flag at home on Independence Day, August 15. At the Calcutta High Court, lawyer Kalyan Banerjee alleged that police assistance was used to remove loudspeakers from about 4,000 mosques without written notice, acting only on verbal instructions.

The state’s Additional Advocate General disputed the case’s basis, saying police had issued no such removal order and that no specific evidence or officer had been identified. The court sought detailed information on affected districts and mosques and asked whether sound rules for the call to prayer were being followed. The next hearing is scheduled for August 18, with the state directed to state its position beforehand. The chief minister said 4,200 mosques and 1,096 temples had their loudspeakers removed under 2020 guidelines.

At least seven workers were killed and 14 others injured after a tunnel under construction for a hydropower project collapsed in Chamoli district of India’s Uttarakhand. The accident occurred on Thursday evening near Mayapur, close to Pipalkoti, when a landslide from a mountain damaged part of the tunnel and water began entering it. The injured workers were rescued and admitted to hospital.

According to local administration information cited by Hindustan Times, the incident took place at the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, owned by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. Hindustan Construction Company was carrying out construction work at the site. Soil and rocks accumulated in part of the tunnel after the landslide, while water seeped inside, trapping a large number of workers.

Officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre said 22 workers were trapped inside the tunnel after the accident. Authorities began a rescue operation after receiving the report. Rescuers brought 21 workers out of the tunnel by 11 pm. Seven of those rescued were declared dead, while the remaining 14 injured workers were sent to hospital for treatment.

The South Asian Justice Campaign’s recently published India Torture Tracker report alleges that at least 44 Muslim citizens were killed in India between January 1 and July 31, 2026. It says 19 of the deaths were linked to state forces and agencies, while 25 people were killed in communal violence involving hardline Hindu nationalist groups. The report describes the period as a peak in violence against Indian Muslims.

The report also alleges arrests, demolitions of homes and religious sites, and evictions based on religious extremism. From May through July, it records 21 incidents across eight states in which more than 1,000 homes and businesses belonging to Muslims were demolished. It says more than 3,000 homes and businesses have been demolished this year, and that 23 mosques, madrassas and khanqahs were demolished across six states over two months.

According to the report, more than 2,500 local people were arrested within 48 hours after an armed attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, where two family homes were destroyed with explosives. It also alleges cuts to West Bengal’s minority welfare fund, voter-list exclusions affecting mostly Muslims, and continuing efforts to expel Bengali-speaking Muslims labelled as Bangladeshis.

Students in India’s Jharkhand state have continued protests for 20 days over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. The protesters said they would maintain the movement until their demands are met. They are seeking transparency in recruitment tests, cancellation of several examinations, and an independent inquiry by the CBI or a panel of retired judges from outside Jharkhand.

A march toward the state assembly on Monday led to clashes between protesters and police. Police used baton charges, water cannons and tear gas to control the situation. The BJP called a statewide shutdown in protest and accused the state government of suppressing the movement. The ruling Congress countered that the BJP was using the protests for political gain.

Former chief minister Raghubar Das warned that he would begin a hunger strike if the demand for a CBI inquiry was not accepted within a week. JLKM leader Devendranath Mahato is receiving hospital treatment after falling ill during a hunger strike, while four student hunger strikers are also hospitalized. Six rounds of talks between the government and student representatives have not ended the deadlock. Chief Minister Hemant Soren promised recruitment-exam reforms and assured cancellation of the 14th JPSC examination.