Nepal, May 6 -- Barely a month into office, Prime Minister Balendra Shah flattened informal settlements in Kathmandu with bulldozers, sharply dividing Nepal's cybersphere, the media, GenZ activists, and even his own ruling RSP.

The polarisation is most visible in the media. The mainstream press has relentlessly exposed the humanitarian tragedy of thousands of families losing their homes, schools and shrines being demolished, children and household pets out on rain-soaked streets.

Meanwhile, in the parallel universe of the social web there is widespread applause, and glee, at the prime minister's decisive action to solve the squatter problem and make Nepal great again.

But fearing an electoral backlash from the negative news reports, t...