President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said nobody believed that India will survive as a democracy when it gained Independence from the British rulers in 1947, but "Indians have proved those forecasts wrong"."The strong edifice of democracy built by our founding fathers on the four pillars of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity has withstood several threats from both within and without and has grown from strength to strength," the President said in his address to the nation on the eve of the country's 70th Independence Day.
He said that despite the different hues of political thought, he has seen the ruling party and the opposition coming together in pursuit of the national agenda of development, unity, integrity and security of the nation."In the just-concluded session of Parliament, the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill for the introduction of GST amid non-partisan and quality parliamentary deliberations is reason enough to celebrate our democratic maturity," the President observed.This was Mukherjee's fifth address to the nation as President on Independence Day eve.