In rare but good news, an Indian-origin member was permitted by the United States Air Force to wear 'tilak' on his forehead while on duty. 

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Darshan Shah, a US Air Force airman stationed at FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming had been trying to get the religious waiver since 2020. He began pursuing this when he was assigned to the 90th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron. Darshan is an aerospace medical technician.

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However, reaching this point wasn't easy for him. He had to gather a lot of support from across the globe through online groups and chats. Finally, it was on February 22, 2022, he was given permission to wear a 'Tilak Chandlo' while in uniform for the first time. 

He said, "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."

He further added, "It’s something new. It’s something they’ve never heard of before or even thought was possible, but it happened. "

Darshan was born in a Gujarati family in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The reason behind his perseverance to get the religious waiver was that his family follows the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottan Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS and their religious symbol is a red dot, or "Chandlo," encircled by an orange U-shaped tilak.

Not only Darshan but various Hindu saints had contacted him after they got to know what he was trying to do. Even the primary leader of Darshan's sect, Guruhari Mahant Swami Maharaj spoke to authorities to discuss the waiver.