Bangladesh violence: Calcutta's Marquis Street turns into ghost town from bustling hub
Telegraph | 20 December 2025
At a time business usually soars, Calcutta’s mini Bangladesh is struggling to stay afloat.
The streets are deserted, traders are sitting idle, and tables are half empty at restaurants. The latest flare-up in Bangladesh has piled more concern on Marquis Street, Free School Street, Kyd Street, Sudder Street, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, and neighbouring areas.
Stores selling sherwanis and salwar suits and mobile SIM cards, Bengali eateries, travel agents, currency exchangers, and even street vendors — all depend on Bangladeshi patrons.
Business has already taken a body blow and the fresh visa curbs have traders bracing for more losses. The real effect of the curbs will be felt after around 10 days, said traders.
Cotton World, a sprawling 3,000-plus square feet showroom on Marquis Street, had just a couple of buyers around 4pm on Friday.
“December and January are usually the best months for business. On a late December weekday, we would sell more than 50 salwar pieces. Today, I barely sold a couple,” said Kashif Mullick, son of the owner.
“Since many doctors are on leave during the year-end, the number of Bangladeshis who come for medical reasons goes down. But genuine tourists, who want to spend the festive season in Calcutta, are plentiful. They buy in bulk, collecting souvenirs for every family member,” said Mullick, who was sitting at the cash counter.
The few Bangladeshis in Calcutta are afraid that an escalation of the unrest can make their return journey more difficult.
Mujibur Rahman, a resident of Dhaka in his sixties, was buying a SIM card from a store on Marquis Street on Friday afternoon. He was part of a group that reached Calcutta around 1.30pm on Friday. They were stuck for over three hours in Dhaka on Thursday night. “The bus left around 11pm. But it crawled through Dhaka. It takes barely 40 minutes to cross Dhaka. But we were stranded at multiple places because of barricades and shutdowns,” said Rahman, here on a medical visa.
The group reached the Benapole-Petrapole border around 10.30am on Friday and then booked a private car to central Calcutta.
Shyamal Saha, a currency exchanger on Marquis Street, had people waiting outside his store this time a couple of years ago. He would deal with $5,000 on a daily average basis. Now, the volume is less than $500.
“The past three to four months have just shown some signs of improvement. On an odd day, I exchanged $1000. But this fresh unrest will hurt again. The effect of the fresh curbs will be felt in about a fortnight,” said Saha.