Veteran journalist and acclaimed author Mark Tully passed away on Sunday, January 25, at a private hospital in New Delhi. He was 90. Tully had been unwell for some time and was admitted to Max Hospital in Saket on January 21 under the nephrology department.
Confirming his death, veteran journalist and close friend Satish Jacob said that Tully breathed his last on Sunday afternoon. Hospital sources also confirmed the development.
Born in Calcutta on October 24, 1935, Mark Tully spent much of his life documenting India and South Asia. He served as the BBC’s New Delhi bureau chief for 22 years and remained one of the most trusted international voices on Indian affairs for decades.
Tully first came to India as a child and later returned as a journalist in 1964 when the BBC posted him to New Delhi. He went on to cover some of the most defining moments in post Independence India, including the Bangladesh war of 1971, the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the anti Sikh riots of 1984, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
He was briefly sent back to London in 1969 after the Indian government barred the BBC from operating in the country following the broadcast of the documentary Phantom India. Tully returned to Delhi in 1971 and was appointed bureau chief the following year.
An acclaimed author, Tully wrote several influential books on India, including No Full Stops in India, India in Slow Motion, The Heart of India, and India’s Unending Journey. His first book, Amritsar Mrs Gandhi’s Last Battle, co-written with Satish Jacob, focused on Operation Blue Star and the Punjab crisis.
Tully also hosted the BBC Radio 4 programme Something Understood, which explored themes of spirituality and faith. He continued presenting the programme until 2019.
He resigned from the BBC in 1994 after publicly criticising the organisation’s internal culture but continued working as a freelance journalist based in Delhi. Even without a formal media role, he remained an active observer of India’s political and social life.
Mark Tully received the Padma Shri in 1992 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. He was knighted by the British government in 2002 for his contributions to journalism and UK-India relations.
On his 90th birthday last year, his son Sam Tully paid tribute to his father, describing him as deeply connected to both India and the United Kingdom and loved for his honesty and integrity.
Tributes poured in from journalists, readers, and listeners across generations, many recalling how Tully’s voice on the BBC World Service became synonymous with credibility and truth.
