“Modi destroying old termite ridden banyan tree”: Write-up falsely ascribed to Mark Tully

A write-up attributed to celebrated journalist Mark Tully has been shared widely on social media. Titled ‘Modi destroying termite ridden old Banyan tree’, the write-up is critical of the Nehru dynasty, calling it a “termite ridden old Banyan tree which will still try its best to stop any one growing to the extent that it may even turn the soil upside down before falling down”. The write-up cautions against the lingering ‘old order’ and how it will do anything and everything in its power to preserve the status quo and prevent positive change.

The full text of the write-up, which apparently appears in Tully’s book ‘No Full Stops in India’, is pasted below. Tully was the bureau chief of BBC, New Delhi. He started his career in 1965 as the India correspondent for the global broadcaster.

“Modi destroying termite ridden old Banyan tree”
-Mark Tully on Modi

Mark Tully the BBC correspondent for India for many decades writes about changes happening in MODI’S regime.

In his Book “No Full Stops in India,” while discussing about change writes –
In India change takes a lot more time.The birth will be slow and perhaps painful. I believe it could be the birth of a new order which is not held up by the crumbling colonial pillars left behind by the Raj but is GENUINELY Indian ; a GC modern order, but ”not a slavish imitation of other modern orders”.

He goes on to say that – “For all its great achievements, the Nehru dynasty has stood like a Banyan tree, overshadowing the people and the institutions of India, and all Indians know that nothing grows under the Banyan tree”.

As Mark said , Change will be slow and painful, therefore for someone who doesn’t read and makes judgement based on perception will for quite some time not be able to see the change taking place or will pretend as if nothing is changing.

The way changes are coming in Railways, Power sector, Defense Production and in governance and at the same time accompanied by the resentment of the old forces indicate that the process of change has begun albeit slowly but firmly and is going to be painful.

Let us not undermine the capabilities of this termite ridden old Banyan tree which will still try its best to stop any one growing to the extent that it may even turn the soil upside down before falling down.

For a year or so we may witness more of Dadris, more of Kaniyahas, more of Owaisi style shouting but finally if the Society keeps its cool, acts maturely and continues to perform we will sail through and the old forces will die a natural death.

LET ME ADD to this – every day the new stir media throws in your face is all doctored by forces who wish to topple Modi Govt as Modi has uprooted them and they are like fish out of the water.

The time has come to continue to support the man and keep your faith intact and we will see new India for sure – bigger, better, stronger, corruption free , peaceful , prosperous than ever before with people having better quality of life..
– Mark Tully.

The write-up has been shared by several individual users on Facebook. It has also been posted on Twitter.

No such passage in the book

Alt News discovered that the write-up ascribed to Mark Tully is to be found nowhere in his book ‘No Full Stops in India’. We then contacted Mark Tully who confirmed that this so called article/passage is fake. “It is a rehash of an older fake which has been in circulation for years now. I would be enormously grateful for anything you can do to make it known the so called article allegedly by me is a fake”, Tully wrote in an email to Alt News.

This is not the first time that Mark Tully’s name has been used to further an agenda in the form of an article/write-up/passage. Earlier in July 2018, when the Congress party had introduced a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, an ‘article’ critical of the Gandhi family, and falsely attributed to Tully, was circulated widely.