A Tamil Nadu-born non-binary transgender Indian and former PhD student has become the first person to be elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) despite being a foreign national who does not have a permanent visa to reside in the UK.Indian national Q Manivannan on Friday won the Edinburgh and Lothians East seat for the Scottish Greens, also becoming one of the first two transgender MSPs elected to Holyrood. She told supporters: “My name is Dr. Q. Manivannan, I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them.”His election has given rise to controversy. “Dr Q Manivannan, an Indian migrant who arrived in Britain on a student visa, is now a politician in Scotland pushing for the partition of Britain,” Migration Watch said.Despite not having the right to work full-time, Manivannan will now receive an annual salary of £77k (Rs 99 lakh). MSP is crowdfunding £2,089 to raise money for a graduate visa which will allow them to stay for the next three years. Manivannan said he came from a lower caste background in Tamil Nadu and compared Tamil Nadu’s “strong resistance voice” to that of Scotland. He said he joined the Greens because of its support for Palestine. According to the Daily Telegraph, he unfollowed Auschwitz on social media and defended the defacement of posters of Israeli hostages.They are now on student visas which allow part-time work. Last year, the SNP government introduced legislation to allow non-UK citizens to stand for Parliament if they have any type of leave, including short-term study visas. Earlier ILR was required.He studied liberal arts and humanities at OP Jindal Global University in Delhi, before moving to Scotland in September 2021 to study at the University of St Andrews. A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “Q is on a valid visa with the right to work and live in Scotland, and is a Commonwealth citizen.”
