Muslims need reservation to end cycle of poverty: Asaduddin Owaisi, party

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi makes the demand after Maharashtra passed a bill proposing 16 per cent quota for Marathas.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday Muslims be given reservation in government in government jobs and state-funded education institutions, responding after Maharashtra passed a bill proposing 16 per cent quota for Marathas.

"I have consistently argued that there are backward castes in Muslims who have lived for generations in a cycle of poverty. Reservation is a tool that will break this cycle," said Owaisi, chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

AIMIM legislator from Maharashtra Imtiaz Jaleel accused the BJP-led government of being "indifferent" about Muslims.

"The state government has shown an indifferent attitude towards the Muslims by completely ignoring