The editorial Page: as us reshapes its asia strategy, india must rewire its regional leadership 8 THUrSDAY, JULY 2, 2026 Journalism of Courage AhMEdABAd, LATE CITY, 18 pAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com dA I LY f R o M : A h M E dA B A d , C h A N d I GA R h , d E L h I , J A I p u R , Ko L K ATA , L u C K N o W , M u M B A I , N AG p u R , pAT N A , p u N E , vA d o dA R A Happening today lThe firsT batch of pilgrims for the annual Amarnath Yatra will be flagged off from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha as offline registration commenced Wednesday. lA 10-memberdelegation of rebel TMC faction, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, will meet the full bench of the Election Commission amid an intensifying battle over the ownership of the party, funds and its twin-flower symbol. lrising sTArsGurnoor Brar and Manav Suthar are expected to get a look-in in the India A playing eleven when they take on Sri Lanka A in the second Test. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com ThefT Of DOnATeD mOneY AT rAm TemPLe UP weighs Central agency probe option as Ayodhya row heats up State SIT given time until July 15 to wrap up its investigation bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, July 1 Amid the clamour for a speedy probe into the alleged theft and embezzlement of fundsandvaluablesdonatedto the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Uttar Pradesh government a few items belonging to accused avinash shukla left behind at a yoga centre in ayodhya, Wednesday. ANI express special is actively considering the option of turning over the investigation of the case to the CBi or anotherCentralagency,TheIndian Express has learnt. Sources said since the matter constitutes an economic offence which requires deep investigation, the option of handing over the case to the CBi or another Central agency is being looked at. the state Sit, which submitted a preliminary report on its findings, was Wednesday granted time until July 15 to complete its probe. it will be revisiting Ayodhya thursday to conduct further inquiries. Sourcessaidaparallelprobe by the Ayodhya police has only uncovered cash allegedly stolen in recent months — eight persons have been arrestedandarecurrentlyinjudicial custody — and an extensive investigation is required to trace movable and immovable assets acquired by the accused who were involved in the work ofcountingcashandvaluables. ever since it submitted its preliminary report to the office oftheChiefministeronJune23, theSithasnotvisitedAyodhya. »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 On Three-DAY inDiA visiT, WiLL hOLD TALks WiTh mODi TODAY ‘put family above fear’: a year after being pushed into bangladesh and brought back, they seek to rebuild lives Most of them have shifted to Mumbai after failing to make ends meet in West Bengal By EP UNNY Parliamentary panel on ONOE Bills also meets Speaker and Lt Governor P P chaudhary, chairperson of Parliamentary panel on joint polls, with delhi cm rekha Gupta in new delhi, Wednesday. ANI Damini nath & Jatin Anand New Delhi, July 1 deSCRiBiNG the concept of OneNationOneelectionas“the need of the hour”, delhi Chief minister Rekha Gupta WednesdaytoldtheJointCommitteeof Parliament on Bills relating to simultaneouselectionsthather governmentwouldbewillingto consideradjustingthetenureof thedelhiAssemblytoalignwith that of the Lok Sabha. She pointed to cutting short the Assembly’s term which currently ends eight months after that of Lok Sabha. the committee, chaired by BJP mP P P Chaudhary, conductedastudyvisitintheCapital, meeting the Chief minister at the delhi Secretariat, Speaker Vijender Gupta and representativesofpartiesatthe AssemblyandLieutenantGovernor taranjit Singh Sandhu at Lok Niwas. in a statement, the Chief minister’s Office said: “Referring to delhi, she (Gupta) pointedoutthatelectionsinthe national Capital are held roughly a year apart from the Lok Sabha elections. if aligning election schedules at the national level requires a suitable »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 Bill clause for removal Tokyo, Delhi to deepen strategic ties, of ministers in custody for 30 days likely to be Takaichi flags global uncertainty retained in panel report Chips, rare earth, supply chains on table; Japanese Prime minister sanae Takaichi arrives in new delhi, Wednesday. @TAKAIChI_SANAE/x Kolkata, July 1 business as usual Delhi CM offers: Can cut House term for simultaneous polls AheAD Of mOnsOOn sessiOn ravik bhattacharya “SoNSar DEKhbo na bhoy? Sonsar dekhlam (Should i put my family first, or my fear? i chose family).” it has been one year since mehbubSheikh,whobelongsto Bhagabangolainmurshidabad, was picked up from mumbai, keptindetentionfordays,taken to West Bengal, pushed across the border to Bangladesh and, within days, brought back. the 37-year-old is back in mumbainow,workingasaconstruction worker. “i fear i may be picked up again and thrown out. But i have to support my wife and two sons, pay their school fees.” minarul Sheikh, 30, of Beldanga in murshidabad, was among the group of seven including mehbub who were detained from mumbai in June neeD Of The hOUr: rekhA gUPTA (clockwise from left) mostafa kamal sheikh, shamim khan and mehbub sheikh were among the group of seven picked up in mumbai and pushed into Bangladesh. ExpRESS last year, pushed into Bangladeshandbroughtbackafterthe Centre and BSF conceded they were indians and held a flag meetingwiththeirBangladeshi counterparts. this was before thestartoftheSpecialintensive Revision (SiR) in the state, which all of them later cleared. minarul, who procures hair toselltothewig-makingindustry,hasmovedshoptoKashmir. the chances of being singled out in the high-security Valley are even higher, and a nervous minarulrefusestogivehisexact location. But, he must live with therisk,headds.“Afterwewere brought back, we received no help from the government. On the other hand, the people who owed me money took advantageofwhathadhappenedand refusedtopayme,thoughihad to sell my family’s 1 bigha land to repay loans i had. Now i am in Kashmir to restart my life.” »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 large Japan business delegation too here Divya A New Delhi, July 1 UNdeRLiNiNG thAt she intends to deepen her country’s strategic ties with india in this timeof“growinguncertaintyin theinternationalsituation”,Japan’s Prime minister Sanae takaichireachedNewdelhiWednesday evening on a three-day visit, her first to india after entering office last year. Soonaftertakaichi’sarrival, PrimeministerNarendramodi, issUes nOTiCe, gives COmPAnY Three DAYs TO resPOnD Impersonation concerns, don’t roll out ‘username’ feature: Govt to WhatsApp soumyarendra barik New Delhi, July 1 the GOVeRNmeNt has issued a notice to meta-owned WhatsApp on the planned rollout of the messaging service’s ‘username’ feature over concerns of impersonation and fraud and directed the company nottorollitoutuntilathorough consultationonthesubject,The IndianExpresshas learnt. earlier this week, WhatsApp announced it would gradually allow users to select a usernameandhidetheirphone numbers when contacting another user for the first time. it is an optional unique identifier a user can choose for her WhatsApp account. it can also beusedbyotherstomessageor call her, while keeping the phone number private. Seniorgovernmentofficials said the Union ministry of home Affairs raised concerns withtheministryofelectronics and it. they said the government would undertake a risk assessment of the new feature, »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 in a post on X, said, “We are delighted to host you on your first visit to india and i look forward to our wide-ranging discussions tomorrow that will furtherdeepentheindia-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership.” “through our joint efforts, we will continue to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the indo-Pacific and beyond,” modi said. Received at delhi airport by »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 gujarat page 4 E. explained special partnership India and Japan upgraded their ties to a Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014. During PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan last year, the two sides had charted a roadmap for the next decade, raising the Japanese investment target in India to 10 trillion yen, launching initiatives on economic security cooperation, digital partnership & AI. Surat, July 1 2 killed as bharuch World Trade cenTre Wall falls afTer doWnpour Liz mathew New Delhi, July 1 the JOiNt Committee of Parliament, examining the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill that seeks to remove ministers detainedforseriousoffencesfor 30consecutivedays,isexpected to adopt its report on July 17. A house panel adopting a report is a routine procedure before a Bill is tabled in Parliament. While the report is likely to retain the contentious clause thatproposestheautomaticremoval of the Prime minister, Chief ministers, or other ministers from office if they are arrested and detained in custody for30consecutivedaysforserious offences, there could be notes of caution to ensure that thelawisnotmisusedforpolitical vendetta, sources said. »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 Demolition row: Five Surat civic officials suspended, to face departmental inquiry express news service anupam singh gahlauT is neW ahmedabad police commissioner Opp members of panel expected to submit dissent note on report FiVe OFFiCiALS of the Surat municipal Corporation (SmC) wereonWednesdaysuspended in connection with the controversial demolition of several shantiesinthecity'sNasirnagar area in may. Some of the residents have moved the Gujarat high Court (hC) alleging that due process was not followed during the demolition drive and they were not issued any notices beforehand. A departmental inquiry has been initiated on the basis of the findings of a six-member internal inquiry committee that probed the demolition drivecarriedoutonmay30,the SmC said in a statement on Wednesday. Surat municipal Commissioner m Nagarajan told The Indian Express that the inquiry would “fix charges on the basis of their role and further action will later be taken against them (the five officials).” thedecisiontosuspendthe officials for an “indefinite period” comes after the hC, while hearing the residents' petitions, asked what steps the SmC authorities had taken »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 l mBaPPe scores TWice as France BeaT sWeden 3-0 To reach Final 16 French strikers ruled the field, but Deschamps was man of the evening express at World Cup sandip g New Jersey, July 1 A BANNeR with flowers embroidered on its side greeted France manager didier deschamps, returning from his mother’sdeath,intothemetlife Arena.themessagewassimple but touching: “didier, we are with you.” the emcee stopped the hip-hop music. the players performedtheirwarm-updrills with an unusual sombreness. After the national anthem was rendered, the French fans chorused: “C’est vous, didi!” You are the man. the understated French manager would be the man of the evening, although Kylian mbappe nailed two goals of artful precision, Bradley Barcola exhibited his velvet feet with a goalcutfromsilk,andhisflying Les Bleus eviscerated Sweden’s iron-willed defence, winning the Round of 32 match 3-0. the signs are ominous for teams destined to stumble into them, shepherded by a manager who walks without aura or vanity. the arena was so emotionally charged that deschamps eventually broke down. he shed a tear when he staggered to the tunnel. mbappe,puttingFranceahead, turned back and ran towards his manager, yelling and pointing his index finger, “C’estpour vous (it is for you)”. Sweating profusely in New Jersey, he tightly hugged deschamps, who whispered a thanks in his ear and clung onto him. the French players joined them, and embraced their manager. he turned back, and the cam- kylian mbappe celebrates with coach didier deschamps during the round of 32 match against sweden. Ap eras soaked his eyes that had turned red. mbappe considers him a father figure, an unwavering pillarofsupportduringhislean days. he handed him the leap of faith debut in the tournament against Argentina in 2018; he spent months consoling him after the heartbreak of Qatarin2022andtheeuropean Championship in between; he defended him when rumours of a rift swirled in the dressing room. “Kylian — whether you like him or not — the youngsters lovehim.Youhavetheimageof aselfish,individualisticguy,and of course, a striker must also be selfish,buticanassureyouthat in the French national team, he actslikeacaptain,”hedefended him last year. most of all, no managerhasharnessedhisgifts as much as deschamps has. mbappe loves him back too. “he is my comfort zone. he brings a lot of calm into the dressing room, never loses his cool, and gives us the liberty to play in our way. it’s a misconception that he is a defensive coach,” he said during the Nations League in February. thatlabelnolongerfits.deschamps has pragmatic traits, a spillage of virtues from his days as a grim defensive midfielder. the condescending nickname still lingers: the water carrier. But a number from the 1998 World Cup is often forgotten: that no one made as many touches as deschamps in the entire tournament. he was the team’sbackbone,ifZinedineZidane was its brain. he never won his dues as a player; as a managerit’stimeheshould.he isaWorldCupwinner(asplayer and coach), a finalist in another World Cup and european Championship.Yet,hegoesuncelebrated. maybe, it is what he wants, existing in the shadows. »COnTinUeD On PAge 2 Ahmedabad