Veteran journalist and renowned author Mark Tully, who spent years chronicling India’s stories, passed away at a private hospital in Saket, New Delhi on Sunday, his close friend told news agency PTI.
The British-Indian journalist was 90 years old, and has been sick for quite some time. He had been admitted to the Max Hospital in Saket for the past week, before he breathed his last this afternoon.
“Mark passed away at Max Hospital Saket this afternoon,” Satish Jacob, veteran journalist and a close friend of Tully told the agency.
From early life to his work—Who was Mark Tully?
Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 24 October, 1935, Tully has served as the chief of bureau of the BBC, New Delhi, for 22 years.
He was a child of the British Raj. Tully grew up in a family with deep ties to India. His father was a businessman, while his mother, born in Bengal, came from a family that had worked in India for generations as traders and administrators, BBC reported.
He was a familiar face to BBC audiences in Britain and around the world, as well as a popular foreign correspondent and respected reporter and commentator on India, BBC said in a news report.
Throughout his career in the newsroom, Tully has covered issues such as war, famine, riots and assassinations, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the Indian army’s storming of the Sikh Golden Temple.
Tully’s professional achievements
Tully was honored with two of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, in recognition to his journalistic work. He also received recognition from Britain, where he was knighted in 2002 for his services to broadcasting and journalism.
An acclaimed author and award-winning journalist, Tully was also well known as the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 program ‘Something Understood’, where he explored human stories, spiritual and ethical ideas, and reflections of life.
Tully has written several books on India, including ‘No Full Stops in India’, ‘India in Slow Motion’, and ‘The Heart of India’.
Even though he never gave up his British nationality. Tully was extremely proud to become an Overseas Citizen of India later in his life. That made him, he said, “a citizen of the two countries I feel I belong to, India and Britain,” BBC said in a report about his life.
Netizens extended condolences for his death
Several politicians, fellow journalists, professors and academicians have taken to social media platform They have extended condolences to his closed ones.
“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,” Pawan Khera, Chairman, Media & Publicity of the All India Congress Committee, said in an X post.
Amitabh Matteo, dean and professor, school of International Studies at JNU, also expressed grief over the news, stating “RIP Mark Tully — A towering voice in journalism and a bridge between cultures…”
Another user wrote, “Journalist and writer Mark Tully is no longer with us. In this hour of grief, our condolences are with his family and readers.”
