By Nirjal Dhungana

Perhaps, it will not be outright preposterous to say that Nepal’s politics is in its direction of extreme polarisation.

Despite the loud rhetoric about attempts to regain rapprochement, the chasm between the Maoist and non-Maoist parties is rapidly getting cavernous.

Latest postures of political parties, of course, do not bode well to a peace process, which has already bled to anemic because of myopic visions of major political actors.

The polarisation between the Maoist and other parties is showing no signs of abating. As such, the possibility of meeting 28 May 2010 deadline for writing the new constitution is getting remote at an escalating pace.

No doubt, the chronic coherence in the perceptions of the political parties vis-à-vis crucial issues is pushing the country to the vortex of renewed conflict.

The latest turn of events has lent credence to the suspicion that the country might again flounder in a quagmire of disaster.

The legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly process is in limbo with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the overriding document that governs the peace process, being rendered a sham.

It seems that Maoists, whose second phase of protests (Nov. 1-13) was largely peaceful, are now shifting the axis of their ongoing agitation for “civil supremacy”.

Some observers say the Maoist stalwarts are also capitalising upon the ongoing political impasse to reassert their commitment for their core constituencies- ethnic and working class.

The land grabbing drive unleashed by Maoists for squatters’ rights some days back attests to this fact, they argue.

The unilateral decision on the part of them to declare autonomous states across the country also accentuate that the Maoists are raking recourse to hard-line politics.

The government also seems to be in mood to adopt confrontational measures against the Maoists. The issues related to arms import from India, establishment of an Army airbase in Surkhet, and organised attacks against UNMIN for its “biased inclination” towards Maoists give ample space to argue that the opposition against the Maoists have magnified.

Undeniably, the activities of the government and other state institutions are also putting the peace process in peril.

In his recent visit to New Delhi, Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Chhatra Man Singh Gurung got assurance from Indian Army that he would receive “any kind of military assistance.”

The ambiguity in the way Delhi assured Gurung gives room to imply that the “South Block” wants to see the Maoists continue to be isolated.

Moreover, the airing of scornful tirade by Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal that the ruling coalition is acting as a pawn of New Delhi mandarins has further complicated the already entangled political situation. nepalnews.com