In the Midst of Global Conflict: A Jain Healthcare Perspective
By: Shreeya Gandhi
Sirens pierce the smoky night air as ambulance lights flash wildly across rubble-strewn streets. Inside, a young doctor races to keep her patient alive, monitoring vitals as the vehicle swerves around debris. The patient, a teenage boy bleeding from shrapnel wounds, cries out in pain through an oxygen mask. His home was just bombed in an escalating conflict between ethnic groups vying for power. As the doctor steadies his gurney, her mind floods with images of previous patients also caught in the crossfires of war — the elderly man whose hospital was shelled, the mother and infant burned when a molotov cocktail ignited their apartment. She takes a deep breath, reciting the Jain prayer Shanti Stotra for peace. Her duty now is to preserve life without judgment.
This isn’t a scene out of a movie. It reflects the unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems worldwide, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources have been strained, political arguments about how to allocate limited care have grown more heated and intractable, and ethical dilemmas about the allocation of care have emerged. Concurrently, armed conflicts between nations and ideological groups, such as the wars in Ukraine, Gaza-Israel, and Africa, have continued, further taxing medical capacity. Through extensive media coverage, regional conflicts have spread worldwide, diverting resources and attention far beyond immediately affected areas. For providers, particularly those of the Jain faith, these parallel crises underscore the need for unwavering commitment to equitable, compassionate care rooted in the principles of Anekantavada (non-absolutism) and Ahimsa (non-violence).
Anekantavada teaches multiplicity of viewpoints, recognizing the complexity of existence, where no single perspective encapsulates absolute truth. Jains, therefore, see validity in diverse and even opposing insights. This openness translates readily to healthcare amidst today’s divisive climate. Anekantavada reminds providers that no patient’s lives or health outcomes are more valued than others based on political opinions, nationality, age, or other factors, equally aligning with codes of medical ethics like the Hippocratic Oath. Care must be allocated strictly through the lens of medical need — a standard military physicians also uphold when treating injured combatants. However, reports indicate that not all practitioners have adhered to this standard. Stories circulate of doctors and nurses allowing partisan biases to impact treatment, whether through denial of care or reduced empathy. For Jain healthcare providers, such actions directly contradict core spiritual beliefs about respecting life. Ahimsa towards all living beings means promoting health equitably across communities and borders. Anekantavada prevents reliance on singular perspectives that rationalize discrimination.
In chaotic, pressured environments, ethical grounding becomes even more essential. Difficult triaging decisions require upholding values consistently. Jain healthcare workers’ commitment to Anekantavada allows them to set aside personal prejudices that might otherwise affect clinical choices by believing that truth has many aspects. They approach each patient with mindfulness and limited bias, focused wholly on preserving life. This mentality in Jainism provides a model for the field overall to restore ideals of equality and dignity. The pandemic and ongoing conflicts have magnified fragmentation, but principles like Anekantavada and Ahimsa can counteract it by emphasizing universality. When health workers root their practice in the moral conviction that all lives have equal worth, they are better equipped to confront systemic challenges. The engaged, clear-eyed worldview Anekantavada promotes allows them to separate healing from surrounding conflicts.
Crises often illuminate weaknesses within social structures. The immense strain of concurrent health and humanitarian emergencies has exposed certain ethical cracks, including inequities in care. On the other hand, such times also reveal reservoirs of wisdom and virtue. Jainism’s ancient teaching of Anekantavada, synthesized with medical ethics, offers a critical perspective on upholding life’s sanctity impartially. Allowing no single view to dominate reflects higher ideals that sustain healing work. Current trials have tested these; However, for providers guided by open-mindedness and compassion, recovery and renewal remain possible. Jainism’s integrative philosophy can help illuminate the way forward.
