Air Marshal Raja Shahid Hamid comes from a family of bureaucrates in the Rawalpindi District. His father retired as a Federal Secretary Government of Pakistan.
Biography
Raja Sahid Hamid was born in the city of Jehlum and got his early education there. His father, Raja Hamid Mukhtar was a government servent. After completing his early schooling he followed in his brother Raja Mansoor Hamid's footsteps to join Pakistan Army. Being not physically fit for army, he applied as an engineer to Pakistan Air Force and was selected.
Pakistan Air Force
Joining Pakistan Air Force in 1960s, Shahid Hamid steadily grew through the ranks. His luck shone, when using his contacts he convinced his superiors to allow him to form and head an organization, namely: Air Weapons Complex. Air Weapons Complex was founded along with the National Defence Complex on the same day, in the same room. National Defence Complex was founded by his friend, Dr. Samar Mubarakmand.
For the next more than twenty years, Raja Shahid Hamid remained the head of AWC, defying all Pakistan Air Force rules and regulations. During his tenure AWC got hundreds of millions of dollars on different projects such as: UAVs, Fuel Cells, encryption software, practice bombs, autonomous tracking and searching systems. The purpose of these grants was to develop these technologies indigenously. However, to-date none of these technologies have been developed at AWC. All of them have either been borrowed from its sister organizations like National Defence Complex or bought off-the-shelf from countries like China. They were then modified to suit the demands.
While at AWC, Raja Shahid Hamid rose to the ranks of Air Marshal, being the first engineer in the history of Pakistan Air Force to reach the rank.
Retirement
In 2001 he was forced to retire from Pakistan Air Force.
Reasons for Retirement
Mushaf Ali Mir, after becoming Air Chief Marshal had ordered an inquiry into the corruption of Air Marshal Shahid Hamid. It is at this time evidence propped up that he had been using his office building as his private bungalow with a couple of prostitutes having a permenant residence there. Under his command, alcohol had become freely available throughout the organizations headquarters and for the hundreds of millions of dollars of funds and thousands of employees, the organization had not procuded a single indigenous product. It was also found that every demonstration of an indigenous product by AWC had actually been a Chinese made technology, spray painted to look like developed indigenously. During the investigations a young civilian engineer, Irfan Afzal Mirza and Brig. Nasim Akhtar Khan were identified as his trusted lieutenants. As a result, Mirza Irfan Afzal was also asked to resign while Brig. Nasim Akhtar Khan's tenure at AWC was ended and sent back to Pakistan Army.
AEDB
Somehow Air Marshal Shahid Hamid convinced Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz that he was the man who could solve Pakistan's electricity problems using renewable energies. As a result in 2003 Alternative Energy Development Board was set-up under him as its chairman. In the next four years the department received nearly 6 billion rupees in government funds and loans from international agencies with the aim to help develop alternative energy resources in Pakistan, however, till the forced resignation of Air Marshal Shahid Hamid the country had not produced a single megawatt of energy from any renewable energy resource.
While at AEDB, Air Marshal Shahid Hamid had selected Brig. Nasim Akhtar Khan as his number two and Irfan Afzal Mirza as his number three. His personal secretary was a famous lady from Lahore's Hera Mandi.
Currently
Retired Air Marshal Shahid Hamid divides his time between Dubai and Germany.
Corruption
According to Military Ingelligence sources, when Air Marshal Shahid Hamid was forcibly retired from AWC, he had a net worth of US$ 20 million, in 2000. However, after becoming the chairman of AEDB in 2003, in the next four years, his net worth increased to an estimated US$ 100 million. In his assets, there is also a share in a famous Dubai hotel and shares in private TV channels in Pakistan.
Businesses
Other than owning a Dubai Hotel, Air Marshal Shahid Hamid holds numerous companies both in Pakistan and abroad, either through his wife and children such as Clean Power or directly such as Steel Castings and Engineering Works, or as benami partners, such as private TV channels.
Family
Air Marshal Raja Sahid Hamid's brother Raja Mansoor Hamid retired as a Brigadier of Pakistan Army. His uncle Raja Arshad retired as Additional IG Prison from Punjab Police. His brothers are known in the media world they own some of the private tv channels in Pakistan.
