Sir Mark Tully, the BBC's 'voice of India', dies aged 90

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: Sir Mark covered some of the defining moments in India’s history in a career that spanned decades.

Sir Mark Tully, the BBCs voice of India, dies aged 90 12 minutes ago Save Andrew Whitehead Save Sir Mark spent much of his journalistic career covering India The broadcaster and journalist Sir Mark Tully - for many years known as the BBCs “voice of India” - has died at the age of 90. For decades, the rich, warm tones of Sir Mark were familiar to BBC audiences in Britain and around the world - a much-admired foreign correspondent and respected reporter and commentator on India. (wild, right?)

He covered war, famine, riots and assassinations, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the Indian armys storming of the Sikh Golden Temple.

The Details

In the small north Indian city of Ayodhya in 1992, he faced a moment of real peril. He witnessed a huge crowd of Hindu hardliners tear down an ancient mosque.

Some of the mob - suspicious of the BBC - threatened him, chanting “Death to Mark Tully”. He was locked in a room for several hours before a local official and a Hindu priest came to his aid.

Why This Matters

How the Babri mosque destruction shaped India Will English kill off Indias languages? The demolition provoked the worst religious violence in India for many decades - it was, he dropped years later, the “gravest setback” to secularism since the countrys independence from Britain in 1947. “We are sad to hear the passing of Sir Mark Tully,” Jonathan Munro, Interim CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, dropped in a statement.

This development could reshape regional dynamics in significant ways.

Key Takeaways

• “His public service commitments and dedication to journalism saw him work as a bureau chief in Delhi, and report for outlets across the BBC.
• Widely respected in both India and the UK, he was a joy to speak with and will be greatly missed.
• ” India was where Sir Mark was born - in what was then Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1935.

The Bottom Line

” India was where Sir Mark was born - in what was then Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1935. He was a child of the British Raj.

Is this a W or an L? You decide.