Who was Mark Tully? Former BBC Bureau Chief in India Passed Away at 90

Mark Tully lived much of his later life in New Delhi and McLeod Ganj, India.

New Delhi: Sir William Mark Tully, one of the most influential and beloved voices in Indian journalism and broadcasting, has passed away. The 90-year-old Tully breathed his last on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at a hospital in New Delhi. 

Mark Tully covered everything from the trial of Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was the BBC's Delhi correspondent from 1972 to 1994. He also presented the BBC Radio 4 program 'Something Understood'.

Mark Tully joined the BBC in 1964. During his time there, he extensively covered numerous issues related to India and the South Asian region. Tully was a journalist from an era when television was not yet prevalent in India, and radio was solely under government control. He credited the BBC for his success. After resigning from the BBC in 1994, Tully pursued independent journalism.

Mark Tully was born in Tollygunge, Calcutta on 24 October 1935. His father was a partner in the company Glander Roberts & Co. His mother was born in a small place called Aukera Junction in Bangladesh. He spent his childhood in Calcutta. 

Mark Tully did his schooling in Darjeeling and earned a Master's degree in History and Theology from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He served in the First Royal Dragoons for two years and then became the Regional Director of the Abbeyfield Society.

During his long tenure with the BBC, Tully became synonymous with balanced, insightful, and deeply empathetic reporting on India. Despite facing criticism from both Indian nationalists and some sections of the British establishment, Tully never wavered in his commitment to impartial journalism.

Mark was knighted in 2002 and awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005. He authored several books, including The Lives of Jesus, No Full Stops in India, India's Unending Journey, and the latest, Non-Stop India. 

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Mark Tully initially wanted to become a priest, not a journalist. He worked for four years at an organization that cared for the elderly before applying to the BBC. He didn't get a journalism position, but was offered a job as a clerk in the personnel department. 

A year later, he returned to India from London and was given a job in the personnel department there. He then decided to pursue journalism on his own. He assisted the television team and his first feature was on the Statesman Vintage Car Rally. The producer at the time, a woman, was very impressed with his work.

Mark Tully learned Hindi by reading newspapers. He once lamented that when he spoke to people in India in Hindi, they would reply in English. He considered this a shame for the country.

In 1975, when Mark Tully criticized Indira Gandhi's decision to impose the Emergency, the government ordered him to leave India. However, he was later allowed to return. Tully came back to India shortly afterward. He provided crucial reporting during Morarji Desai's premiership in 1977 and after Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984. He covered Operation Blue Star, the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and its aftermath, economic liberalization, and countless elections and social upheavals.

Tully spent most of his life in New Delhi and McLeod Ganj, walking the streets daily, meeting ordinary people, and maintaining his curiosity about the complexities of the country.