Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – An Islamic group says recent raids on terrorist safe houses and comments by the governor of Jakarta about neighborhood alertness could lead to racial profiling and prejudice against certain Muslim groups.

The spokesman for Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), Ismail Yusanto, said Muslims who choose to identify their faith through appearance, along with Middle-Eastern people, could face stigmatization and public suspicion following a call for people to be on the lookout for potential terrorists.

In the wake of a raid in Bekasi earlier this month, which led to the death of two people, Governor Fauzi Bowo called on neighborhoods to be vigilant of potential terrorist threats by keeping a check on suspicious or new residents to an area.

Police have revealed that a house in Mampang, South Jakarta, was used as a base for the terrorists who carried out the July 17 Jakarta hotel bombings, and that Noordin M. Top likely visited the residence some time around then.

Fauzi requested that neighborhood heads monitor their communities in order to identify unregistered residents living in rented properties.

Central Jakarta's Senen district head, Hidayatullah, said the community was paying close attention to new residents.

"Especially those who move about in groups wearing long dresses and veils, and are very shut off from others," he said. "There are some Muslim gatherings (pengajian) which are very exclusive. These are the ones we have to be cautious of."

In Telaga Kahuripan Bogor, home to 18-year-old suicide bomber Dani Dwi Permana, residents have been taking precautions, particularly when dealing with new residents wearing ankle-length trousers or have long beards, and with women who wear a niqab.

Police believe Saefudin Zuhri, a resident in that community, may have recruited Dani to carry out the Jakarta bombings, and have since arrested him. The blasts, which police believe may have been orchestrated by Noordin, killed nine people, including the bombers.

Ismail said since the bombings, certain Muslim groups, particularly those with a certain style of dress, were experiencing an increase in social discrimination. People gathering outside normal prayer hours to preach or recite the Koran were also facing suspicion, he said.

Violence against Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, compounded with alienation in Indonesia, could lead to further resistance, he said. "I'm not trying to scare people but this is the reality," he said.

Members of international Islamic movement Tablighi Jama'at, better known in Indonesia as Jama'ah Tabligh, are finding themselves being unfairly profiled in regencies in Central Java such as Purbalingga, Cilacap, and Banyumas.

Some residents in those areas have recently been banning Tablighis, who are easily identifiable by dress, from praying in their mosques.

Jama'ah Tabligh is an Islamic movement which originated in India in the 1930s. The rector at the Islamic State University, Asyumardi Azra, wrote in his book that members of the Jama'ah Tabligh are obligated to annually preach in public by conducting door-to-door campaigns.

In Jakarta, the Tablighis have a mosque in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. A member of the Jama'ah Tabligh, Haris Abdullah, said they were an apolitical movement that aimed to "activate" mosques around the world.

"We want to bring mosques to life, so we travel to places around the world to spread the religion and obey God," he said.

Hidayatullah said as the district head of Senen, he was not trying to create suspicion of certain individuals but was simply advising people to remain cautious and alert.

"We do not want to focus exclusively on those who dress differently but on those who are new to the area, travel in groups and do not mingle with other," he said. "We just want to know who are in our neighborhoods."