Upset over the authorities denying permission for a rally to protest killings in Syria, leader of a Muslim group in Telangana's Warangal town attempted suicide by consuming poison.
In a video webcast live on his Facebook account late on Friday, the man vent his anger over the police denying permission for the rally to condemn the massacre of innocent people, including children in Syria.
Mohammed Nayeem later took out a bottle from his pocket and consumed its content, saying he was ending his life. He was later rushed to a hospital. Police said his condition was stable.
The man is the Warangal district chief of Muslim Hakkula Porata Samithi (Struggle committee for rights of Muslims).
He said the organisation had sought permission to hold a peaceful rally and the police had initially agreed to allow the same. Later, the police officials refused to give permission.
Nayeem said he was feeling helpless as he was not even allowed to condemn the massacre in Syria and express solidarity with the victims.
He alleged that the political leaders have vested interests and they were not at all bothered about raising their voice for the community or supporting a just cause.
Earlier on Friday, he had made a bid to immolate himself by dousing kerosene. However, other members of the organisation prevented him from taking the extreme step.
Meanwhile, a rally was held in Hyderabad’s Yakutpura, where children and adults held boards that said ‘Pray for Syria’ and took out a march.
A total of 1,389 people - 1,073 of them civilians - were killed in Syria in February, of them 67% in Eastern Ghouta, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
The Eastern Ghouta agricultural region, home to almost 400,000 people, and once the breadbasket of Syria, has been under bombardment by the government and its allies since 18 February.
The UN says more than 580 people are reported to have been killed in the bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, which are among the fiercest of the Syrian war.
The bombings and shellings have continued despite a UN security Council resolution on 24 February demanding a 30-day ceasefire, after Syrian forces launched their most intense shelling in an effort to eliminate Al Qaeda-linked groups in the last main rebel-held zone.
IANS inputs