INDIA: Convertible

In a country where deep political and religious convictions often lead to bloodshed, 74-year-old Abul Kasem Fuzlul Huq has a singularly open mind. Huq can be converted, and in the grip of conversion, can convert others. He can also be re-converted.

As president of the Moslem League, in 1916-19, 1921, pot-bellied Huq had helped to inflame Moslems with their first dream of Pakistan. But in 1943, when he lost the premiership of Bengal Province he was converted to the predominantly Hindu All-India Congress, turned like a tiger on the League and its president Mohamed Ali Jinnah.

Last summer, Huq failed...