An Indian-origin member in the US Air Force has been allowed to wear a tilak in the line of duty. Darshan Shah, a US Air Force airman stationed at FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, has been granted religious exemption by allowing him to wear a tilak while on duty. He had been asking for it for two years. His demand received support from all over the world through online group chats. On February 22, 2022, he was allowed to wear a tilak with his uniform for the first time.
“My friends from Texas, California, New Jersey and New York are sending messages to me and my parents that they are very happy that something like this happened in the Air Force,” Shah said. He said, “It’s something new. It’s something they had never heard of before. It was unthinkable, but it happened.”
Shah was raised in a Gujarati family in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. This family looks after the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottan Swaminarayan Sanstha i.e. BAPS.
The religious symbol of this sect is sandalwood, surrounded by an orange U-shaped tilak.
He has been seeking a waiver to allow them to wear Tilak Chandlo’s uniform since he began basic military training in June 2020. He checked in with the Air Force Global Strike Command’s superintendent of individual programs on a monthly basis for updates on the status of his waiver until it was accepted.