Agus Maryono, Banyumas – The current intensive police hunt for wanted terrorist Noordin M. Top and followers of his organization Jamaah Islamiyah has prompted residents to be more vigilant of Islamic groups.

Central Java residents have refused to allow members of Jama'ah Tabligh to stay at their mosque. Members of Jama'ah Tabligh, an Islamic sect originated from India, move from one mosque to another, preaching. Male members of the group usually wear Pakistani-style attire and have beards while its female members wear face veils, and thus they are often believed to be linked to radical groups, including to Noordin and his group.

The exclusion of Jama'ah Tabligh members has happened in several regencies in the province, including Purbalingga, Cilacap and Banyumas.

"Their presence made us uncomfortable. They (the members of Jama'ah Tabligh) slept, ate and took a bath in our mosque. Residents feared that they were part of a terrorist group. So we did not allow them to stay here," Rojikin, one of the mosque's board members, said Tuesday.

Rojikin said the residents reported the group members to the police because they were reluctant to leave the Nurul Huda mosque in Sidakangen village, Kalimanah district, Purbalingga. Twelve members of Jama'ah Tabligh were then taken to the Purbalingga police station.

The members, who had stayed at the mosque for two weeks, told police they had only asked the residents to perform sholat prayers, rejecting the accusation that they were a terrorist group. "We don't teach violence. We just ask people to pray together," Hamid, one of the members, said.

Police released the members, residents of Sulawesi, and asked them to move on to the group's center of operations in Purwokerto, Central Java.

The head of the Unitary Nation and People's Protection Agency in Cilacap regency, Yayan Rusiawan, said his agency had asked hundreds of Jama'ah Tabligh members to leave the regency in the past two weeks.

"Residents reported they felt uncomfortable with the presence of the group members. The members had to leave the mosques," Yayan said Tuesday.

He said the group members admitted that they came from Jakarta, Bengkulu and various West Java cities, however, some of the expelled members could still be seen in Majenang, Dayuehluhuer and Kawunganten and western Cilacap areas.

Pujiono, 40, one of the Jama'ah Tabligh activists from Purwokerto defended the group, saying they just preached from one mosque to another. "We just ask people to liven up their mosques."

He claimed many members of Jama'ah Tabligh were also members of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations which are known for their moderate stances. "We are not a different sect," he added.