Three-thousand copies of the audio were distributed by Indian record label HMV Records throughout the world. The speech inspired the Bengali people to prepare for a war of independence amid widespread reports of armed mobilization by West Pakistan. The Bangladesh Liberation War began 18 days later when the Pakistan Army launched ‘Operation Searchlight’ against Bengali civilians, intelligentsia, students, politicians, and armed personnel. It is considered to be the worst genocide in human history.

On October 30, 2017, UNESCO added the speech in the Memory of the World Register as a documentary heritage.

In the speech, Bangabandhu announced his directions for a civil disobedience movement, which included people should not pay taxes and Government servants should take orders only from him, the secretariat, government and semi-government offices, and courts in East Pakistan should observe strikes, with necessary exemptions announced from time to time; only local and inter-district telephone lines should function; and railways and ports could continue to function, but their workers should not co-operate if they were used to repress the people of East Pakistan.