In the United States Air Force, an Indian-origin member has been permitted to wear a Tilak while on duty.
Darshan Shah, a US Air Force airman stationed at FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, has been granted a religious waiver allowing him to wear a Tilak Chandlo while on duty.
Since joining the service two years ago, Darshan, an aerospace medical technician assigned to the 90th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, had been pursuing a waiver.
Shah garnered support from all across the world as word of his request for a religious waiver spread through online group chats.
On February 22, 2022, he was given permission to wear a Tilak Chandlo while in uniform for the first time.
“My friends from Texas, California, New Jersey, and New York are messaging me and my parents that they are very happy something like this happened in the Air Force,” said Shah.
“It’s something new. It’s something they’ve never heard of before or even thought was possible, but it happened. “
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Shah was raised in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in a Gujarati family that adheres to the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottan Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS.
This sect’s religious symbol is a red dot, or “Chandlo,” encircled by an orange U-shaped tilak.
Since starting basic military training in June 2020, he has been seeking a waiver to allow him to wear the Tilak Chandlo in uniform.
He checked in with the Air Force Global Strike Command’s Superintendent of Personal Programs on a monthly basis for updates on the status of his waiver until it was accepted.
After various Hindu saints contacted him about Shah’s perseverance, the primary leader of Shah’s sect, Guruhari Mahant Swami Maharaj, shared a phone call to discuss the waiver with India.
(With inputs from agencies)
