Born in India in 1935 under British rule, Tully made the country his home and his career, becoming arguably the best-known foreign correspondent in the country.
He reported on events such as the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the creation of Bangladesh, the siege of the Golden Temple in 1984, the 1991 assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the 1992 demolition of the Babri mosque, which triggered nationwide riots.
For his work, he received two of India’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, which are rarely bestowed on foreigners.
“HONOUR TO INDIA”
Tully studied theology at Cambridge University before joining a seminary.
But he returned to India in 1965, joining the BBC in New Delhi as an office administrator.
After a brief stint in London at the BBC’s Hindi and World Service, he was appointed the public broadcaster’s correspondent in New Delhi in 1971.
Tully was named bureau chief a few years later, overseeing coverage of South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – a position he held for two decades.
He resigned from the BBC in 1994 amid a dramatic overhaul of the organisation, criticising the then director general John Birt, denouncing the “revolution” taking place at the corporation, beginning with a “sweeping attack on the BBC’s journalism”.
After resigning, he continued working as a freelancer and writing books.
Britain knighted Tully in 2002 for services to broadcasting and journalism – a recognition HE would later describe as “an honour to India”.
BBC News interim chief Jonathan Munro said: “Sir Mark opened India to the world through his reporting, bringing the vibrancy and diversity of the country to audiences in the UK and around the world.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/mark-tully-bbc-india-correspondent-dies-5885756
