Suresh Rajan is blunt about his politics, and nonchalent when talking about the time the police warned him that he could be the target of an attack by a notorious neo-Nazi.

That was 20 years ago, when Jack van Tongeren’s house was raided and police found information found that led them to believe the terrorist was planning an attack on Rajan, but it did not deter Rajan from doing what he does.

Dealing with racism is distressing for many, but for Rajan, it is a challenge he always welcomes.

Suresh Rajan is a name that most in Perth heard in the context of  human rights-related issues.

Coming to Perth in 1975 at the age of 15, Rajan quickly learnt that he was different from others in many ways, starting with his skin tone.

Almost half a century later, he is one of the most prominent human rights advocates in Perth.

“I would walk down the streets back then, and people would turn to look at you because the skin colour was different,” says Rajan.

Rajan describes how having an Australian wife of Russian-German descent raised even more eyebrows.

“She and I can walk down the streets in Melbourne or Sydney, no one will take a second look. In Perth, everyone turns to look at what is this white woman doing with this black man?” says Rajan.

He was born in Singapore to south Indian parents and then spent his childhood in Brunei and India before moving to Perth in 1975. Rajan always found ways to connect to his roots.

Rajan shares such an instance where he came across an Indian snack in a deli in Perth for the first time since he left India

“In 1976, I was walking past a deli, and for the first time, I actually saw samosas there and I thought, ‘wow, we have come a long way,’ and I went to buy one. It was the most disgusting samosa I have ever eaten, but it was a samosa, and that is all I cared about,” Rajan shared with heartfelt laughter.

Rajan has worn many hats over the years, including president for West Australians for Racial Equality, treasurer for People with Disability Australia, director of Medical Cannabis Research Australia and former chief executive of Epilepsy WA.

One of his biggest accomplishments while being a human rights advocate is that, due to his campaigning, the government agreed to use medical marijuana in the treatment of epilepsy.

His friend’s daughter suffered from 400–500 seizures a day, and every available medication was tried to no avail.

“I lobbied every government minister, and we managed to get it through, and because of that, every other state in Australia has now accepted it,” Rajan adds.

Rajan is always available to fight for the rights of others regardless of their gender, race, nationality or sexual preference. He believes that, at the end of the day, everyone is just human.

Rajan has been involved with various cases where people from multicultural society had been refused treatment.

The most recent one was the case of 21-month-old Sandipan Dhar, who passed away at Joondalup Health Campus.

Sandipan’s parents and Rajan are now calling for a Royal Commission into WA’s health system.

While he has fought valiantly for others rights, he has also fought a separate battle himself.

He was diagnosed with grade 4 cancer and had to have surgery on his stomach, he was given six months left to live by the medical practitioners.

Now, 13 years later, he is still waiting on that six months.

Rajan follows his father’s philosophy where there are three levels in the society, first level is yourself, then comes your family and then your community.

He believes that anytime you find yourself in trouble and need help, your family is the first place to turn to and if your family cannot help, you then turn to your community.

“Dad’s view was always that you work in the first instance for the community, you then work for the family and lastly to provide for yourself,” Mr Rajan recalls.

“You are not important” are the words from his father’s philosophy that he keeps close to his heart as he focuses on contributing to his community.

After a two hour long conversation over coffee with Rajan, while heading out of the Dome Café, a middle-aged well dressed man walked over to him.

“Excuse me, are you Suresh Rajan?” he asked.

Rajan responded, “Well, yes, I am. Can I help you?”

The man extended his hand to greet Rajan with great enthusiasm, as if he had just met his hero.

“It is a great pleasure to see you, I have been following your work and please keep up the good work you are doing,” he said.