KARACHI, May 16: The Women’s Action Forum (WAF) has urged the judiciary to take suo motu notice of the blockade of almost all important thoroughfares in Karachi with heavy containers and vehicles on the eve of arrival in the city of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on May 12.

It also called for action against those who planned and helped the road blockade, besides the law-enforcement agencies’ personnel who did not intervene to stop the bloodshed that took place on the day.

In a press statement, the forum condemned the killings and destruction, observing that disappearance of the law-enforcement agencies from the scene had given the terrorists a freehand to kill, maim and terrorise lawyers, political workers and ordinary citizens who were on their way to welcome the chief justice. It regretted that the blockade had been enforced in a manner that even ambulances couldn’t find a way to lift the bodies and transport the injured to hospitals.

The road blockades also disrupted the supply of vital commodities, including fuel, and caused hardship to common citizens in various parts of the country, it noted.

The WAF called for action against the corps commander concerned, the provincial home secretary and IG Sindh for not obeying the Sindh High Court order to get the blocked roads reopened to facilitate the chief justice’s travel to the Sindh High Court building.