New Delhi, January 25 (ANI) — Legendary journalist and author Mark Tully passed away at the age of 90 at a private hospital in the national capital on Sunday, the hospital said. The former BBC journalist had been admitted to Max Super Speciality Hospital in the south Delhi locality of Saket for the past week.
According to an official statement from the hospital, Tully died at 2:35 p.m. on January 25. “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.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera expressed condolences over the death of the Padma awardee journalist, recalling that he once lived in the same locality as Tully.
In a post on X, Khera wrote, “Many like me grew up listening to his voice, reading his books. I ended up living in the very locality in which he lived for years and fell in love with. Travel well, Padma Shri Sir Mark Tully. RIP.”
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 boarding school in the United Kingdom. He later studied theology at Cambridge University before entering a seminary.
His journalism career brought him back to India in 1965, when he was hired as an administrator at the BBC’s New Delhi office. 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 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Tully’s reporting in India spanned some of the country’s most defining moments, including the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, Operation Blue Star in June 1984, the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later that year, the killing of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, economic liberalization, 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 after the Emergency was imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He returned after the Emergency ended and lived in the national capital thereafter, residing in Nizamuddin West in South Delhi.
Tully served as the BBC’s New Delhi Bureau Chief for 20 years and worked with the organization for three decades before resigning in July 1994, citing what he described as a “culture of fear” under then Director-General John Birt. He continued to broadcast on BBC airwaves, notably as a presenter of Radio 4’s Something Understood, until 2019.
A recipient of numerous honors, Tully was awarded India’s civilian decorations, the Padma Shri and the 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 him as a “radio legend in India,” noting that for more than a quarter-century he was among the most recognized and trusted voices covering the country’s modern history.
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