Controversial book based on foreign scribes

John MacLithon, the pseudonymous author whose book Hinduvta, Sex & Adventure created a controversy sometime ago after it was alleged that its protagonist Andrew Luyt was modelled on veteran journalist Mark Tully, on Thursday said the character is based on several foreign correspondents based in Delhi in the 1980s and 1990s, including Tully.

Responding to a legal notice served on publishers Roli Books on behalf of Tully and Ebury Press, publishers of the former BBC correspondent’s book “India’s Unending Journey”, the author who wrote under the pseudonym John MacLithon said Luyt’s character had been modelled on a number of foreign correspondents then based in Delhi, including Tiziano Terzani, François Gautier, Tully, Bernard Imhasly and John Elliott.

“It is however true that Mark Tully has uttered in his time quite a few strong statements on the need for India to retain its Hindu identity though he may regret them today in Sonia Gandhi’s India,” MacLithon said, in his communication released to the media.

Full report here Deccan Herald