A Thread of Thanks: Perth’s Hindu Community Honors Those Who Protect and Serve

The Hindu Organizations and Temples Association of Western Australia (HOTA) welcomed members of the Australian Defense Force, WA Police, Royal Flying Doctors, paramedics, State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers and the medical fraternity to its Raksha Bandhan celebration on September 6 at the Indian Community Centre in Perth, an event HOTA describes as honoring “people who keep us safe.”

HOTA convener Praveena Mittal, president of the World Hindu Council of Australia, welcomed a wide cross-section of Perth’s civic and diplomatic community, including Consul Naresh Kumar, Head of Chancery at the Consulate General of India in Perth; Yaz Mubarakai MLA; Dr Parwinder Kaur MLC; Lauren Cayoun MLC; Mayor Logan Howlett of the City of Cockburn and his wife Pat; and Hilary Silbert, Vice-Chair of the Council of Christians and Jews of Western Australia.

Cayoun told the gathering she had been invited after meeting Mittal at an event at the Jewish Community Centre a few weeks earlier, calling it “really beautiful” that the connection had brought her to HOTA’s celebration. “What it demonstrates is that WA’s wonderful and diverse multicultural communities back each other in, come together, and support each other,” she said. Cayoun recalled first visiting the Indian Community Centre in 2021 as a staffer to then-Premier Mark McGowan for its opening and said that while the building had felt new at the time, returning to it now felt different, as if “people have really moved in and made it their own.”

Echoing a point made earlier by fellow MLC Dr Parwinder Kaur, Cayoun said she too comes from a military family, with relatives serving overseas, and praised the police, firefighters, nurses, doctors and paramedics in the room who, she said, “walk into danger when the rest of us are walking away.” She added that her time working for McGowan through the COVID-19 pandemic had shown her firsthand the selflessness of frontline workers during “some of the toughest and most anxious days for Western Australia.”

Mittal told guests the celebration was fitting for Perth’s multi-ethnic community because of the message it carries about unity, responsibility and service, saying defense forces, police and emergency responders “embody the very spirit of Raksha Bandhan” through service that often comes at great personal cost. She spoke from experience: her father, an army officer, “was not present at the birth of any of his three daughters” because of postings to remote military stations in India. Her husband, serving in the navy, missed the birth of their own daughter while patrolling during a conflict, and her brother-in-law waited ten days for news of his son’s birth while stationed at Siachen, the world’s highest battleground.

Mubarakai, attending on behalf of Premier Roger Cook, described the festival in simple terms for guests unfamiliar with it: raksha means protection, and bandhan means bond, together representing a lifelong pledge of mutual care that in Hindu tradition begins between a brother and a sister. He said the same spirit of commitment extended to the frontline services in the room, thanking Defense Force, police, SES and medical personnel “for your commitment to state, the country, and the people.”

Raksha Bandhan is traditionally marked by the tying of a rakhi, a sacred thread, as a promise of mutual protection. At HOTA’s celebration, that symbolism was extended to the uniformed men and women who serve the wider community, with rakhis tied on the wrists of service personnel throughout the night. The evening opened with an Acknowledgement of Country, an acknowledgement of Hindu ancestors and a rendition of the Australian national anthem, and the program featured cultural performances and classical dance forms including Odissi and Bharatanatyam.

HOTA is coordinated on a rotating basis among its member organizations, with the World Hindu Council providing continuity between them. This year’s hosting duties passed to the Vedic Training and Cultural Services, whose president, Sandhya Sringar, received the ceremonial trophy marking the handover, carrying the forum’s motto, “Sanghe Shakti Kalyuge,” translated as “there is strength in unity.”

HOTA extended its thanks to the service personnel, veterans, healthcare workers and community leaders who took part, calling the night a shared expression of unity, gratitude and service across Perth’s many faiths.

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