If God loves us, and wants us to be happy, then why doesn’t he just make us happy?  Or, why, specifically, does he have to punish us for doing wrong? Why there has to be a punishment for things done wrong. Being a political science student I would love to quote Jeremy Bentham’s notion that ‘’penalty  is necessary  if it prevents future crimes or mistakes or repairs an evil already done ’’.  To enjoy the happiness that comes from doing good things, we also have to  tame the device of punishment.
Punishment is a measure to deal with bad elements, whether in the house, school or society. Punishment is necessary in many aspects. The naughty child, the lazy student or the criminal should be all punished. Punishment, therefore, is an important tool for maintaining the discipline, law and order. It prevents people from committing any form of crime. People must be fined for offences such as littering in public places, spitting, smoking  in prohibited area, snide and mocking  behaviour etc.
  In response to the severity and prevalence of disciplinary problems, many schools have opted to adopt punishment-based disciplinary approaches such as the zero tolerance policy. Such disciplinary approaches have become widely practiced.  Non Punitive approaches may not only fail to produce the appropriate outcomes, but also worsen the situation. Positive punitive  strategies that are based on making appropriate changes to the environment should be utilized. Positive punitive  approach helps regulate the system.
If there will be no punishment, there will be no rules and if there will be no rules then there will be   no   righteousness  nor happiness. I am not saying that if punishment is there we don’t need any kind of soft and positive   guidance and instruction. Many good parents feel that they have to punish their child once in a while. But other parents find that they can successfully manage without ever having to punish. A lot depends on how the parents themselves were brought up.
So some measure of discipline is badly needed to avoid lawlessness.


Sajad Aziz Khan
M.A Political Science
Bemina srinagar

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