Dr Lakshmi Sehgal of the ?Rani of Jhansi Regiment? of the Indian National Army (INA) saw the film in 1984 and commented: ?It should be widely shown to children all over the country.? On Saturday, Septemper 12, 1998, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam expressed his deep sense of honour on receiving the Veer Savarkar Award from the Army Chief, General Ved Praksh Malik.
The then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, visited the Cellular Jail on January 18, 2003, and said: ?I consider myself very fortunate that I have again got the opportunity to pay my respect to the freedom fighters.? While writing in the Visitor'sBook, poet Vajpayee penned down in Hindi:
People who went to the gallows smilingly,
Let us remember them.
People who fought lifelong in jails,
Let us remember them.
Let us remember the black waters,
Where foreigners behaved barbarously.
