If the Muslim community in India wants any special treatment as Muslims, they should go to Pakistan, the Shiv Sena, which is a member of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, said on Tuesday.

"If they (Muslims) want anything from this country, they must first accept India as their motherland and proclaim 'Vande Mataram'. They cannot demand freedom and yet continue to cling to their religion," the party said in a sharp edit in their mouthpiece Saamna.

The edit follows All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asasuddin Owaisi's fiery speech in Nagpur on March 1, where among other things, he demanded reservations for the Muslim community on the lines of the Marathas in Maharashtra.

Taking umbrage at Owaisi's tone and tenor, the Shiv Sena reiterated its stance that reservations policy must be based on social criteria and not religious lines. "The poorest of poor Muslim should be given reservation, not because he is a Muslim, but because he is a citizen of India," the party said.

It urged all people - especially Muslims and Hindus - to accept this philosophy, which could eradicate politics of vote-banks and reservations, and help the country's progress. "Now, Owaisi is insisting that since reservations have been given to Marathas, even Muslims must be granted the same. It was exactly such a stubborn attitude of anti-Hindu hardliner Muslims which resulted in the partition of India and they had created Pakistan," the Sena said.

But, not anymore, the Sena warned. Listing the requirements, Saamna said Muslims must accept the uniform civil code, embrace family planning and give up the demand for Article 370 pertaining to the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Blasting Owaisi, it said the day when such leaders stop brainwashing the Muslims with their hate politics, it would spell a new era for the country. "Owaisi claims that Muslims have suffered a lot in India. Has he bothered to calculate how much Hindus have suffere