New Delhi [India], January 26 (HBTV): Legendary journalist and former BBC correspondent Mark Tully passed away at the age of 90 at a private hospital in the national capital on Sunday, the hospital confirmed.
Tully had been admitted to Max Super Speciality Hospital in Saket, south Delhi, for the past week. According to an official statement issued by the hospital, he passed away on January 25 at 2:35 pm.
‘The cause of death was multi-organ failure following a stroke. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his family, loved ones, and all those affected by his passing,’ the statement said.
Mark Tully was born in Calcutta in 1935 into a wealthy family of British settlers. His father was a railway director and a partner in a holding company that owned a bank, an insurance firm and tea plantations. After the Second World War, his parents sent him to a boarding school in the United Kingdom. He later studied theology at Cambridge University and briefly entered a seminary.
His journalism career brought him back to India in 1965, when he joined the BBC’s New Delhi office as an administrator. He returned to London in 1969 to head the Hindi service and later the West Asia service, during which he covered the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971 and the execution of former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Tully’s reporting from India spanned several defining moments in the country’s modern history, including the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, Operation Blue Star in June 1984, the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later that year, the killing of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, economic liberalisation, the demolition of the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid disputed structure in Ayodhya in 1992, and numerous elections.
Known as the BBC’s ‘voice of India’, Tully was expelled from the country in 1975 with 24 hours’ notice for refusing to sign a censorship agreement following the declaration of the Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He returned to India after the Emergency ended and remained based in the national capital, residing in Nizamuddin West in south Delhi.
Tully served as the BBC’s New Delhi bureau chief for two decades and worked with the broadcaster for nearly 30 years. He resigned in July 1994, citing what he described as a ‘culture of fear’ within the organisation under then Director-General John Birt. Despite this, he continued to contribute to BBC broadcasts, notably presenting Radio 4’s Something Understood programme until 2019.
The veteran journalist received several honours during his lifetime, including the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and was knighted by the UK government in 2002. He authored several acclaimed books on India, including No Full Stops in India, India in Slow Motion and The Heart of India.
The UNESCO Courier described Tully as a ‘radio legend in India’, noting that for over a quarter of a century he was among the most recognised and trusted radio voices in the country, covering major events at a time when radio remained the primary medium for reaching the masses. (ANI)