Non-binary Indian on student visa elected to Scottish Parliament

A non-binary transgender Indian and former PhD student, born in Tamil Nadu, has become the first person to be elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) despite being a foreign citizen who does not have a permanent visa to live in the UK.

Indian national Q Manivannan won the Edinburgh & Lothians East seat on Friday for the Scottish Greens, also becoming one of the first two transgender MSPs ever elected to Holyrood. They told supporters: "My name is Dr Q Manivannan, I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them."

Their election has sparked controversy. "Indian migrant Dr Q Manivannan, who arrived in Britain on a student visa, is now a politician in Scotland pushing for the breakup of Britain," said Migration Watch.

Manivannan, will now get an annual salary of £77k (Rs 99 lakh) despite not having the right to work full-time.

The MSP is crowdfunding £2,089 to raise money for the graduate visa which will allow them to remain a further three years.

Manivannan said they come from a lower-caste background in Tamil Nadu and compared the "strong resistance tones" of Tamil Nadu to Scotland. They said they joined the Greens because of its support for Palestine. According to the Daily Telegraph, they unfollowed Auschwitz on social media and defended the defacement of posters of Israeli hostages.

They are now on a student visa which allows part-time work. Last year, the SNP govt introduced legislation to allow non-UK citizens to stand for Parliament if they had leave of any type, including a short-term study visa. Previously ILR was required.

They studied liberal arts and humanities at OP Jindal Global University in Delhi before moving to Scotland in Sep 2021 to study at the University of St Andrews.

A Scottish Greens spokesman said: "Q is on a valid visa with the right to work and live in Scotland, and is a Commonwealth citizen."