Highway jams, arson and vandalism, workers' protest in Bangladesh rages, what are the demands?

Textile industry workers blocked roads in Dhaka and Ghazipur in Bangladesh on Sunday (1 November 2026). The protesters also set fire to the police post. They are demanding a monthly salary of Rs 30000. According to local media, after these protests, the government announced the formation of the Wage Board and appealed to the workers to return to their factories. The current minimum wage for textile workers was announced in November 2023, which came into effect from December of the same year. It is scheduled to end next month.

The unrest in Bangladesh has affected a region that employs more than 40 lakh people in nearly 4,000 registered factories. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh is the world's second-largest textile exporter after China. In the 2025-26 financial year, it exported garments worth $38.70 billion.

Protests in Bangladesh turned violent

The newspaper quoted Iftikhar Hossain, the officer-in-charge of the local police station, as saying that in Ghazipur, protesters set fire to a police post in the middle of the highway. Five columns of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed to control the situation.

metro station gates had to be closed