Source: Stars and Stripes Magazine
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JAPAN, April 13, 2002: Okinawa’s small American Hindu population meets twice a week on US military bases to get in touch with their spirituality. Chaturbhuj N. Gidwani helped establish a Hindu study group at Kadena Air Base and Camp Foster after moving to Okinawa, Japan, six months ago. “There are many people in the military with an Indian background. I felt they were missing their cultural heritage,” said Gidwani, the chief mechanical engineer for the Marine base’s Facilities Engineer Division. Gidwani, a lay religious leader, hopes one day the military will have Hindu chaplains to serve the 3,000 to 4,000 Hindu service members. Gidwani, 64, is a retired sergeant major in the Army reserve. He was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and immigrated to the United States when he was 28. He became a US citizen, and joined the Army Reserve when he was 35, just two months shy of the cut-off date for new recruits. “Back in 1997, the Pentagon agreed to give full support to a program of having Hindu lay leaders organize study groups on military bases,” he said. He was instrumental in starting a group at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC, and then, three years later, at Masawa Air Base, Japan. Gidwani said there are about ten Hindu families on Okinawa, but the meetings are not just for those who follow the Hindu faith. “We are not preaching. We are a support group. Perhaps someday the military will have Hindu chaplains. What we are doing is providing support for Indians who are continuing their spiritual journey and sharing our beliefs with others who are interested,” said Gidwani.