Religious harmony most important in U.S.: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said it is extremely important to maintain religious harmony in the U.S. and added that attention must be paid to increasing incidents of religious intolerance in that country.

"President Obama talked of religious harmony when he had come here. This religious harmony is most necessary in the U.S., and therefore, the authorities must pay attention to it," said Raut.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "The law should take its own course and the people who did this should be punished."

In a shocking case of intolerance, a Hindu temple was vandalised with hate speech in Washington. The incident happened when unidentified miscreants sprayed swastika and painted "Get Out" on one of the walls of the temple in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

The incident has shocked the community in the area, prompting authorities to launch an investigation.

In a separate incident, a 28-year-old Indian-American, who was shot by unknown gunmen in his family-owned liquor shop in the US, has succumbed to his injuries. Amit Patel from Edison was shot and killed in New Jersey inside Roseway Liquors in Irvington on Sunday.

When police arrived at the store, they found Patel injured from a gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A Murray and Acting Irvington Police Director Musa Malik said in a statement.

According to close family friends, Amit was manning the family's liquor store alone - his father, who owned the store was in the back office.

Earlier in an address at New Delhi's Siri Fort auditorium on January 27, during the last leg of his India trip, President Obama had made a strong pitch for religious tolerance, cautioning that India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along lines of religious faith.