- Mark Tully
-
Sir Mark Tully Born William Mark Tully
1935
Calcutta, IndiaEducation Marlborough College
Trinity Hall, CambridgeOccupation Journalist, Writer Title Sir Religious belief(s) Anglican Christian Sir William "Mark" Tully, OBE (b. 1935 in Calcutta, India[1]) is the former Chief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi. He worked for BBC for a period of 30 years before resigning in July 1994.[2] He held the position of Chief of Bureau, BBC, Delhi for 20 years.[3] Since 1994 he has been working as a freelance journalist and broadcaster based in New Delhi.[4][5] He is currently the regular presenter of the weekly BBC Radio 4 programme Something Understood.[6]
Contents
Early life
Mark Tully was born on 24th October 1935 in Calcutta; his father was a British businessman who was a partner in one of the leading managing agencies of the British Raj. He spent the first decade of his childhood in India, although without being allowed to socialise with Indian people,[7][8] before going to England for schooling. He was educated at Twyford School, Marlborough College and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied Theology.[7] After Cambridge, he intended becoming a priest in the Church of England but abandoned the vocation after just two terms at Lincoln Theological College, admitting later that he had doubts about "trusting [his] sexuality to behave as a Christian priest".[1]
Journalism
Mark Tully joined the BBC in 1964 and moved to India in 1965 to work as the India Correspondent.[1][4][9] He covered all major incidents in South Asia during his tenure, ranging from Indo-Pakistan conflicts, Bhopal gas tragedy, Operation Blue Star (and the subsequent assassination of Indira Gandhi, anti-Sikh riots), Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to the Demolition of Babri Masjid.[5][10][11]
Tully resigned from BBC in July 1994, after an argument with John Birt, the then Director General. He accused Birt of "running the corporation by fear" and "turning the BBC into a secretive monolith with poor ratings and a demoralised staff".[2] Tully is equally well versed in English and Hindi.
Philanthropy
He is patron of the British branch of Child In Need India (CINI UK).[12]
Awards and honours
Tully was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1985 and was awarded the Padma Shree in 1992.[7] He was knighted in the New Year Honours 2002,[13] receiving a KBE, and in 2005 he received the Padma Bhushan.[14]
Books
Mark Tully's first book on India Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle (1985) was co-authored with his colleague in BBC Delhi Satish Jacob and dealt with the events leading up to Operation Blue Star, the Indian army's attack on Sikh extremists in the Golden Temple at Amritsar. His next book Raj to Rajiv: 40 Years of Indian Independence was co-authored with Zareer Masani, and was based on a BBC radio series of the same name. In the US, this book was published under the title India: Forty Years of Independence. Subsequently Mark Tully wrote No Full Stops in India (1988), a collection of journalistic essays that was published in the US as The Defeat of a Congress-man. This was followed by his only work of fiction, The Heart of India(1995). In 2002 came India in Slow Motion co-authored with Gillian Wright, followed by India's Unending Journey (2008) and India: The Road Ahead (2011), published in India under the title Non-Stop India.
In the area of religion Sir Mark has authored An Investigation into The Lives of Jesus (1996) to accompany the BBC series of the same name and Mother (1992) on Mother Teresa.
The anonymously authored Hindutva Sex and Adventure is a novel featuring a main character with strong similarities to Tully. Tully himself has stated that "I am amazed that Roli Books should publish such thinly disguised plagiarism, and allow the author to hide in a cavalier manner behind a nom-de-plume. The book is clearly modelled on my career, even down to the name of the main character. That character's journalism is abysmal, and his views on Hindutva and Hinduism do not in any way reflect mine. I would disagree with them profoundly".[15]
References
- ^ a b c "Mark Tully: The voice of India". London: BBC. 31 December 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1735083.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ a b Victor, Peter (10 July 1994). "Tully quits BBC". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/tully-quits-bbc-1412865.html. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "Media reportage: Interview with Mark Tully". The Hindu. February 20, 2000. http://www.hindu.com/2000/02/20/stories/1320001c.htm. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ a b "Mark Tully to give annual Toleration lecture at the University of York". The University of York. http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/pressreleases/tully.htm. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ a b "It's Sir Mark Tully in UK honors list". CNN. December 31, 2001. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/12/31/tully.knighthood/. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "Mark Tully". BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/people/presenters/mark-tully/. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
- ^ a b c "Meeting Mark". The Hindu. Jun 18, 2007. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/06/18/stories/2007061850540100.htm. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ Lakhani, Brenda (2003). "British and Indian influences in the identities and literature of Mark tully and Ruskin Bond". University of North Texas. http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-4313:1. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ Drogin, Bob (Dec 22, 1992). "Profile The BBC's Battered Sahib Mark Tully has been expelled by India, chased by mobs and picketed. He loves his job.". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61846854.html?dids=61846854:61846854&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+22%2C+1992&author=BOB+DROGIN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Profile+The+BBC%27s+Battered+Sahib+Mark+Tully+has+been+expelled+by+India%2C+chased+by+mobs+and+picketed.+He+loves+his+job.. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "After Blue Star". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/history/operationbluestar.shtml. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ Tully, Mark (5 December 2002). "Tearing down the Babri Masjid". London: BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2528025.stm. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.cini.org.uk/about.html
- ^ "An honour, says Tully". Press Trust of India. Jan 01, 2002. http://www.hindu.com/2002/01/01/stories/2002010101621500.htm. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "Padma Bhushan Awardees". Indian government. 2005. http://india.gov.in/myindia/padmabhushan_awards_list1.php?start=120. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ Nelson, Dean (5 April 2010). "Former BBC correspondent Sir Mark Tully attacked in novel". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7552715/Former-BBC-correspondent-Sir-Mark-Tully-attacked-in-novel.html. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
I thought "Divide and Quit" was written by Penderel Moon. 1961 - Chatto & Windus.
External links
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