KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- The royal pardon granted to Bhutan's top dissident leader has raised hopes among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal eager to return home, although some say it is a ploy to impress the international community.

Tek Nath Rizal, 52, who was serving a life sentence after being convicted of treason and subversion in 1989, was among 200 prisoners pardoned by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck on the occasion of Bhutan's 92nd national day Dec. 17.

"People are quite happy here in the camps (concerning Rizal's release)," said Jesuit Father Varkey Perekkatt of Jesuit Refugee Service. But Rakesh Chettri, a Bhutanese refugee leader in Katmandu, told a Nepal daily that the release "is another ploy to impress the international community."

Chettri told UCA News Dec 20 that the king had said Rizal would be released when the refugee problem was solved. I hope that does not mean the king thinks the problem has been solved and the refugees are here to stay for good."

He added that "Rizal has been out of touch with local happenings and might not "be in a position to lead the democratic movement immediately."

The "Kathmandu Post" quoted Rizal to have said over the phone, "I have been told I cannot take interest in the Nepal-Bhutan talks (on the refugees). However, I do not know who put this condition. It will be clear only after I meet his majesty. ... I cannot imagine how they cannot (return) and get back their property."

The same source said that Rizal wanted to stay in Bhutan and that refugee leaders encouraged him to help the movement from there.

Rizal is reportedly being guarded closely. While being interviewed by a newspaper, he said that the conversation was "being listened to" and that he was "getting weak both physically and mentally day by day."

He was quoted by the "Kathmandu Post" as saying Dec. 21, "I cannot even narrate how I was tortured in jail. I was administered electric shocks which would make me behave abnormally."

Chettri told UCA News Dec. 22, "I'd better not speak too much -- they may put him back in (jail)."

According to the Bhutanese weekly "Kuensel," the king pardoned Rizal because he did "not physically carry out the acts of violence and terrorism" and had already served 10 years in prison.

The report also confirmed the release of other "anti-national prisoners" besides Rizal, known as the main leader of the movement for the rights of Lhotshampas, Nepali-speaking Bhutanese living in the south of Bhutan.

Bhutan's population of about 700,000 consists of three major and seven minor cultural-religio-linguistic groups, each occupying a different area.

However, the ruling ethnic Drukpas, who speak the Dzonkha language and practice the Drukpa Kargyupa school of Mahayana Buddhism, have engaged in a policy of making Bhutan culturally homogenous through forced assimilation.

The 1988 policy, called "Driglam Namzha," bans the cultural and religious expression of non-Drukpas and mandates observance of certain Drukpa customs.

Rizal was placed under detention in June 1988, but was pardoned by the king.

After his release Rizal sold his belongings and left for Nepal, where he reportedly organized a movement opposing Bhutanese government policy.

In November 1989 Rizal was arrested in Nepal and extradited to Bhutan. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by a full bench of eight High Court judges.

Rizal's wife Koushalya Rizal, who lives in Kathmandu, is currently in eastern Nepal. She has not met her husband since his extradition 10 years ago.

According to Jesuit Refugee Service, there were more than 90,000 Bhutanese refugees living in camps near Nepal's eastern boarder as of September 1999.

Most of them came in the early 1990s when the Bhutanese government intensified crackdowns against "aliens" and pro-democracy rebels.

Bhutan claims that ethnic Nepalese who left Bhutan did so of their own accord and are not Bhutanese citizens.

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