⚡WHEN DATA BECOMES A POLITICAL WEAPON

For decades, social justice in india has been dismissed as “vote-bank politics.”
Reservation has been mocked as “merit-killing.”

Representation has been framed as “compromise.”

Now comes a statistic that obliterates every one of those lies—and it doesn’t come from activists, opposition parties, or ideological think tanks.

It comes from the Union government itself.

According to a written reply in parliament by the Union Law Ministry under the BJP-led Centre, Tamil Nadu has the highest representation of SC, ST, and OBC judges in district and subordinate courts anywhere in India.

And the numbers are not just impressive.
They are politically explosive.

1️⃣ THE NUMBER THAT CHANGES THE CONVERSATION

Out of 1,234 district and subordinate court judges in tamil Nadu,
1,205 judges — 97.65% — belong to SC, ST, and OBC communities.

Break it down further:

• SC: 20.66% (255 judges)

• ST: 1.21% (15 judges)

• OBC: 75.76% (935 judges)

• 
  

This is not marginal representation.
This is structural dominance.

And here’s the twist that makes this data lethal to critics.

2️⃣ NO RESERVATION IN JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS — STILL THIS RESULT

There is no reservation policy in the appointment of judges to district and subordinate courts.

Let that sink in.

No quotas.
No mandated percentages.
No legal compulsion.

Yet tamil Nadu’s judiciary naturally mirrors its social composition better than any other state in India.

That doesn’t happen by accident.
That happens only when the social pipeline is already equalised.

3️⃣ THE REAL REASON: SOCIAL JUSTICE DONE AT THE ROOT

This outcome is not the result of last-minute adjustments.
It is the consequence of decades of social engineering.

Education access.
Public employment.
Self-respect movements.
Anti-caste ideology embedded in governance.

This ecosystem was not created overnight.

Its ideological architect was Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.

4️⃣ PERIYAR’S PHILOSOPHY, NOT CHARITY

Periyar didn’t fight for symbolic inclusion.
He fought to break monopolies over power.

The result?

• First-generation learners became professionals

• Professionals became administrators

• Administrators became judges

• 
  

When representation is built from the ground up, it doesn’t need legal force at the top.

tamil Nadu is living proof.

5️⃣ WHY THIS DATA TERRIFIES ANTI-RESERVATION LOBBIES

Because it exposes the biggest myth of all:

“Reservation kills merit.”

If merit were truly caste-neutral, states without social justice movements should show similar diversity.

They don’t.

tamil Nadu does — without even applying reservation at the judicial appointment stage.

Merit didn’t disappear here.
It simply stopped being monopolised.

6️⃣ THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH: THIS IS ONLY AT THE LOWER JUDICIARY

Now comes the part no one should ignore.

This representation exists only in the district and subordinate courts.

In:

• High Courts

• The supreme Court

The social composition flips completely.

Upper-caste dominance returns.
Opacity increases.
Collegium decisions escape scrutiny.

The ladder breaks exactly where power becomes national.

7️⃣ WHY THIS GAP EXISTS — AND HOW IT CAN CHANGE

Lower judiciary reflects state-level social justice.
Higher judiciary reflects Union-level politics.

Until social justice becomes a central governing principle, representation will remain capped.

Which is why the uncomfortable political conclusion emerges:

Without a Union government committed to social justice, higher judiciary reform is impossible.

And yes, only a coalition where Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam holds real numerical and political strength can push that change.

🧨 FINAL VERDICT: tamil NADU IS NOT AN EXCEPTION — IT IS THE MODEL

This is why tamil Nadu is rightly called the capital of social justice.

Not because it talks about equality.
Not because it posts about inclusion.

But because its institutions—quietly, statistically, undeniably—reflect the people they serve.

The data didn’t come from ideology.

It came from governance.

And it asks one brutal question to the rest of India:

If tamil Nadu can do this without reservation in judicial appointments,
what exactly is everyone else’s excuse?