The passing away of Mark Tully, the illustrious British-Indian journalist, at the age of 90, in New Delhi, has caused a huge void in the field of media. He became a household name in India for his news reports broadcast from the BBC and those ended with the ringing voice uttering “This is Mark Tully, BBC.”In search for authentic news, Indian people and even political heavyweights occupying high constitutional posts instead of relying on the state-owned All India Radio or Doordarshan would tune in to the BBC. It is famously stated that even Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 tuned to the BBC to get credible information when the news spread like wildfire that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot at.When fear and apprehension gripped the country that Indira Gandhi possibly fell to the bullets and possibility of her survival was bleak, people gripped by anxiety were asking if Tully had despatched any report on that incident. Such was the stature of Tully that his name was synonymous with credible and correct news reporting.I have had close interaction with Tully on several occasions at his residence and outside. Sometime after Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister of India I asked him with all nervousness if our country would now get sharply divided on religious lines because of the way Modi employed Hindutva and minorities became victims of polarisation and exclusion.He displayed optimism that India would remain resilient to deal with such divisive and polarising narratives peddled by Hindutva forces as long as the core values of Hinduism and its essence remained integral to the ways of life of very ordinary people who he said are naturally disposed towards the vital elements of composite culture sustaining the idea of India.It was a heartening response from someone who was a veteran British-Indian journalist, , deeply rooted in India’s ethos and always hopeful of what India has stood for over the ages. When I shared former President K.R. Narayanan’s vision with him that India needed not Hindutva but Indiatva, he admired the formulation of Narayanan and said that the dynamic core of India anchored in Indiatva would always be the driving force. Those salutary utterances of Tully need to be kept in mind while dealing with the gathering crises caused by Hindutva forces and the bright spots in several parts of the country representing unity and solidarity of people cutting across diverse faiths.Also read: From Emergency to Babri Demolition: Remembering Mark Tully, a Fearless Titan of JournalismHe was indeed sensitive to the instances from modern Indian history when newspapers were launched to counter famine during the British period. In 2015, while myself and Tully were in Bhubaneswar participating in the Bhubaneswar Literary Festival, I told him that much before professor Amartya Sen, the nobel laureate, made his famous remarks that democracy and free press constituted the best guarantee against famine, in Odisha newspapers were established, first in 1868 and then in 1919 in the context of terrible famines taking a heavy toll of human lives.Elaborating the point further, I told him that the first newspaper of Odisha, The Utkal Deepika, was founded by Gaurishankar Roy, in 1866, when the devastating famine occurred and it was mentioned by Dadabhai Nauroji multiple times in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule. The second newspaper Samaja, now a leading daily of the state, was launched in 1919 when the famine occurred and caused untold misery and devastation.He noted these points and used them in his keynote address to highlight that there were stalwarts in Odisha who understood that mass media could prevent man-made disasters like famines and established newspapers and later Amartya Sen explained the seminal importance of democracy and free press in averting such disasters. Tully’s sensitivity to ideas and his willingness to articulate them in his speech showcased his stature as a role model for journalists passionate about making their presentations insightful and thought-provoking.Also read: Mark Tully Saheb, Punjab and The Gold Standard of JournalismMy engaging discussions with Tully on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas would always remain unforgettable. His uncanny understanding of Gandhi’s deeply religious and spiritual outlook never came on his way of wholeheartedly embracing secularism for unifying India and uphold its age-old image defined by the ideals of tolerance and acceptance. He immensely loved a quote of Gandhi that he never wanted India to be wholly Hindu, wholly Islamic and wholly Christian but wholly tolerant with all its religions coexisting and flourishing.Tully described by his colleague Andrew Whitehead as “a child of the British Raj” and honoured with knighthood in 2002 and Padma Bhushan in 2005 has left behind a rich legacy of independent journalism which assumes greater significance than ever before in the era of godi media being used by the Modi regime to engage it for its propaganda and its corporate control and management.Prime Minister Modi mourned the sad demise of Tully and extolled his glorious legacy as an independent journalist and broadcaster. It is ironic that the Modi regime’s very harsh and punitive measures against the BBC have fatally assaulted its vibrant operations in India which owed a lot to Tully’s tireless and fearless work spanning decades.Tully was mindful that during 1975 and 1977 when emergency lasted for nineteen months the BBC faced only threats and never faced paralysing coercive measures as it faced at the hands of the Modi regime and so he was deeply pained to see the BBC in India forced to become dysfunctional. The best tribute to Tully would be to revive in our country the BBC’s status and stature for which he gave his sweat and blood, inspired generations of people and left an invaluable and enduring legacy.S.N. Sahu served as an Officer on Special Duty to President of India K.R. Narayanan.