The Witness Feed: The Facebook Live that Shook Bangladesh

In July 2024, a wave of student protests swept across Bangladesh, driven by outrage over a government job quota system seen as unjust.

Thousands of students turned campuses into battlegrounds, sparking a nationwide movement for change.

On July 16, one young student journalist with no press badge and no plan arrived at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, where he livestreamed a demonstration as it unfolded. By chance, the student captured the moments that led to the police killing of Abu Sayed.

Abu Sayed had helped lead Students Against Discrimination, a coalition pushing for reforms to the quota system.

With that, what began as a spontaneous act became a national turning point – a student became a witness, and a victim a martyr.

The Witness Feed is an Al Jazeera DigiDocs short directed and produced by Chiara Brambilla.