Though it hasn’t quite reached the two-month mark since Maryam Nawaz, a key figure in the PML-N and daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, assumed office as the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, she’s already embroiled in a controversy.

Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz is facing backlash on social media for offering McDonald’s burgers and fries to schoolchildren during her recent visit to a school in Murree, Pakistan. As the photos and videos of the burger treat went viral, Jamaat-e-Islam Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan slammed the PML-N leader, saying she was ‘rubbing salt in the wounds of Pakistanis.’

“Punjab chief minister feeding McDonald’s to school children is rubbing salt in the wounds of Pakistanis… The entire world, especially in the West, as a powerful wave of boycott is going against McDonald’s and other pro-Israel companies, this action of Maryam Nawaz has sent a devastating message. It is pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian…” he wrote on X. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan also demanded an apology from Maryam Nawaz.

Meanwhile, reacting to the news, another user wrote on X, “Children in Gaza are dying due of hunger but this Maryam Nawaz is busy in her PR & showing support for #Isreal not boycotting #McDonalds.”

Meanwhile, in a now-deleted post, Maryam Nawaz’s party had termed it ‘a thoughtful act.’ In the video shared online, schoolchildren were seen munching on McDonald’s burgers.

“A thoughtful act. CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif sent lunch to the students and teachers at the school she visited…” the party wrote on its official handle on X.

According to a recent report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pakistan has the highest living costs in Asia, coupled with a staggering 25 percent inflation rate. Additionally, the country’s economy is projected to grow at the fourth slowest pace in the region, at 1.9 percent.

(With PTI inputs)