According to Mawi Hartono, head of the neighborhood where Dulmatin had lived before he was shot dead Tuesday, the terrorist was known by his neighbors as a polite and religious person who greeted neighbors.

“[Dulmatin] greeted neighbors he met although he did not get together with us very often,” Mawi was quoted as saying by Republika on Thursday. Mawi and other residents of RT (neighborhood unit) 04, RW (community unit) 04 of Pondok Benda subdistrict were not at all suspicious of Dulmatin when he arrived in May last year.

He handed over a copy of his ID, or that of Yahya Ibrahim, complete with a former address in Cibubur subdistrict, East Jakarta. Neighbors only became aware of “Yahya’s” real identity after he was gunned down by police.

Residents are not to blame for the presence of terrorists in their neighborhood. Dulmatin, who is accused of being involved in a number of attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, was an international fugitive and a master at identity fraud.  

So what is to blame? The chaotic national personal identity system is most responsible for the situation. Under the current system, terrorists or any other criminals can easily manipulate their identities by counterfeiting identity cards. The government has repeatedly failed to prioritize the establishment of a single identity number system across the country not only for the obvious benefits it would have on security, but also for the registration of the country’s taxpayers and voters.

But still it is undeniable that public awareness is a key to weeding out terrorists living among residents. People’s indifference toward any suspicious people in their neighborhoods helps terrorists hide and gives them the opportunity to plan their heinous crimes.

Therefore, the police need to help the public remain alert over the possible presence of terrorists, by among others, distributing photographs of terrorists to all neighborhoods across the country. The Pamulang residents may not have recognized Dulmatin because of the lack of police information in their area.

Meanwhile, to prevent people from illegally residing in our neighborhoods, Jakarta has in place a regulation that requires all hosts to report guests who stay for more than 24 hours. Unfortunately, regulation is largely ignored and thus ineffective.

Although many terrorists have been killed and arrested by the police, there is no reason for us to let our guard down. Many of them continue to walk free. Therefore, we all need to mobilize in the war against terrorism as we, or those we love, may become victims of their brutal crimes.

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