away their loyalty to the country’s rulers, or who swears allegiance to any party, organisation, current [of thought], group, or individual inside or outside the Kingdom.” Article 4 states: “Anyone who aids terrorist groups, currents [of thought], associations, or parties, or demonstrates affiliation with them, or sympathy with them, or promotes them, or holds meetings under their umbrella, either inside or outside the kingdom; this includes participation in audio, written, or visual media; social media in its audio, written, or visual forms; internet websites; or circulating their contents in any form.”
According to Article of the Saudi laws: “Contact or correspondence with any groups, currents [of thought], or individuals hostile to the kingdom.” Article 8 states: “Seeking to shake the social fabric or national cohesion, or calling, participating, promoting, or inciting sit-ins, protests, meetings, or group statements in any form, or anyone who harms the unity or stability of the kingdom by any means.” According to Article 9: “Attending conferences, seminars, or meetings inside or outside the Kingdom targeting the security of society, or sowing discord in society.” And last but not the least, Article 11 states: “Inciting or making countries, committees, or international organisations antagonistic to the kingdom.”
Zaid has been often criticised for his controversial views, which have been slammed as conspiracy theories. He has been accused by his detractors of promoting hate speech. He had established himself as a contentious commentator when he started taking part in a Pakistani TV show - Brasstacks. His father Lt Col. Zaman Hamid (R) had served in the Pakistan Army while Zaid had received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the NED University, Karachi. Zaid is no stranger to controversy, with his comments on social media platforms and TV talk shows often inviting the ire of Pakistani liberals and the civil society, whom he dismisses as “agents” of the enemy state. Zaid is well known for his anti-India tirade.
Shortly before his arrest in Saudi Arabia, he had endorsed the alleged policy of the Pakistani intelligence establishment to use spy pigeons against India in response to the Cold Start Doctrine of the Indian Army. He had made this statement after the Indian police arrested a pigeon, which it alleged was a Pakistani spy. Although the Pakistani authorities had refuted the allegation, Zaid said that due to its resemblance with Allama Iqbal’s Shaheen, the pigeon has symbolic importance in neutralising the effects of the cultural war being waged by India against Pakistan. He added that pigeons would play a central role in Ghazva-e-Hind. He used to bring himself in limelight by using conspiracy as a tool, which has eventually landed him in a Saudi prison.
A resident of the Chaklala Scheme-3 in the Cantt area of Rawalpindi, Zaid Hamid was equally critical of the Sharif government and had been demanding of the establishment to overthrow the civilian set up. At a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on November 20, 2013, a former follower and employee of Zaid Hamid [Immad Khalid] had accused him of plotting to assassinate the then Army Chief General Kayani and instigating a revolt in the armed forces through emails he sent to thousands of officers. He said his former boss had compiled a ‘hit list’, including the names of the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and others from the media and the judiciary. But Zaid had strongly refuted the allegation.