The editorial Page: seven years after august 5 — delaying J&K statehood undermines gains 10 WEDNEsDAY, AUGUst 5, 2026 Journalism of Courage LUCKNow, LAtE CIty, 18 PAgES ₹6.00 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 Lop hELD OvEr rEMArks DirECtED At ACtOr LinkED tO CM vijAy eXpress special Udhayanidhi gen z loud and clear on the street but arrest sparks invisible in Parliament, assemblies row, TN House meets today Only 6 MPs & 20 MLAs from GenZ, given eligibility age is 25 for candidates, but population share is nearly 26% Anjishnu Das New Delhi, August 4 On the streets, Gen Z’s voice rings loud and clear, but in Parliament and the state legislatures, it remains a faint echo. the reason: Gen Z accounts for over a quarter of the country's population, yet its Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin after being questioned by police in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, Tuesday. PtI HC orders release; DMK leader says row a bid to divert attention from Cauvery dispute Arun janardhanan Chennai, August 4 the arrest of dMK leader Udhayanidhistalin,theLeader of the Opposition (LoP) in the tamil nadu assembly, on tuesday over his alleged sexually coloured remarks at a public meeting on the ties between Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and a tamil actor escalatedintoashowdownbetween the tVK-led government and the dMK in the state. the row triggered a war of words between the Vijay-led tVK and the dMK on the eve of theassembly’sBudgetsession, setting off statewide protests and a legal battle in the Madras high Court. hours after the police took Udhayanidhi to thanjavur, he was questioned at the sengipattipolicestationbeforebeing released on bail as per the high Court’s order. »COntinUED On pAGE 2 happening today lOppOsitiOn pDp will hold protests in J&K to mark the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. representation in politics is restricted to just 26 legislators across the country — six Lok sabha MPs and 20 MLas, a low number even though the minimum age to contest elections is 25, which rules out a chunk of this demographic. defined as those born »COntinUED On pAGE 2 l party-wiseGenZMpsandMLas AIADMK: 1 INC BJp total Gen Z legislators 7 5 DMK: 1 HSPDP: 1 Independent: 1 JanaSena Party: 1 tVK 3 26 SP: 2 NPP: 1 NCP(SP): 1 LJP(RV): 1 JD(U): 1 SoURCE: LoK SAbHA, StAtE ASSEMbLIES, ADR ‘India can reach AI frontier in one year with $10-billion push’ business as usual By EP UNNY Maulshree seth Lucknow, August 4 Uttar pradesh Co-presented by sPPushesfordebate ontemPle‘theft’ inassembly,bJPseeks todistance Page 3 meat goes off menu of urs-e-razvi, date advanced Page 5 Sarvam AI’s Pratyush Kumar and tech investor Rajan Anandan Celebration Partner Experience Partner Ens Economic Bureau Mumbai, August 4 IndIaCancatchupwithfrontier artificial intelligence models developed in the West withinayear,withthecountry’s aI ecosystem currently only a $10-billion investment away from competing with global players, according to Pratyush Kumar, co-founder and CeO of »COntinUED On pAGE 2 ‘Madarsa education does not foster patriotism’: Dy CM Maurya; links to terror the big Picture india to JaPan, via north east Page 14 Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on tuesday courted controversy by alleging that “students receiving education in madarsas do not develop a sense of patriotism” and that “terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere were a consequence of madrasa education”. responding to questions from reporters on the sidelines of the Monsoon session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly, Maurya said, “those who receive Madrasa education do not say Bharat Mata ki Jai or sing VandeMataram.theirmindset becomes like that of terrorists.” he further alleged, “this is Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya not the first time. It is a reality that whatever terrorist attacks havetakenplaceinIndiaoranywhere in the world are certainly theresultofMadarsaeducation.” Maurya’s remarks came the day the UP Cabinet approved proposalforamendment tothe UP Board of Madarsa education rules, ending the Board’s authority to grant higher education degrees. Lucknow