Dehradun, Mar 14 (IANS): Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Naresh Tikait on Sunday asserted that the fight against the three farm laws is now a battle for farmers' self-respect and the protesters will only leave the capital's borders with their honour intact.

Addressing a Mahapanchayat at Doiwala here, Tikait reiterated the demand of withdrawal of the farm laws and appealed the people to "punish" the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections for enacting "anti-farmer laws".

"We had supported the government first, voted for it and even appealed peope to vote for it but the government acted against us only. Communalism was spread and the way government portrayed it, we could only see that the other community was at fault," he said.

On the current agitation, he said: "We never thought that the protest will continue for so long. Earlier, the government use to agree to the demands in 5-10 days but it didn't happened this time."

"We should call for another 'Bharat Bandh' where women and children should come out of the houses and block the roads," he said.

Highlighting the negatives of the farm laws, he said that now people have started boycotting the BJP.

While Tikait received warm welcome at several spots on his way to Doiwala, some miscreants tried to create ruckus at Badhrabad toll plaza.

Farmers who were present there to welcome Tikait said that the miscreants were not with them and they were trying to malign Tikait's image.

The BKU on February 28 had announced a series of Mahapanchayats, with an aim to intensify their agitation against the contentious farm laws, to be held in March. The Mahapanchayat in Doiwala was a part of this series.