Baba Ramdev says India's population explosion can only be controlled if third-born child is denied voting rights, govt services

Baba Ramdev on Sunday said that in a bid to curb India’s population, democratic rights of a third-born should be taken away. The third child should be denied the right to vote, contest elections and claim other government services, the co-founder of Patanjali Ayurved suggested. [caption id=“attachment_2562970” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Baba Ramdev. PTI[/caption] Addressing a press conference in Haridwar, Ramdev said that country’s population should not be allowed to go beyond 150 crore and this is only possible if a legislation is enacted denying rights to the third child born to a set of parents. “Then people will not give birth to more children, no matter which religion they belong to,” he said. He also batted for a pan-India ban on manufacturing, sale, and purchase of liquor and demanded a complete ban on cow-slaughter saying it is the only way out to reduce the conflict between cow smugglers and “gau rakshak” (cow protectors). “There should be a complete ban on cow slaughter and it is the only way out to end the conflict that we see between cow smugglers and ‘gau rakshak’. For those who want to eat meat, there are several other types of meat which they can eat,” he said. On banning liquor, he said: “In Islamic countries, liquor is banned. If in Islamic countries it can be banned then why not in India? This is the land of sages. There should be a complete ban on liquor in India.” With inputs from agencies