Nepal, May 13 -- It began with a simple question over morning coffee in 1976. We were in Varanasi then, living under the heavy, quiet shadow of political exile. My father, a high-profile democrat, was a marked man-his name was on the King's list of targets back in Nepal. Because he believed in the power of the people, we were treated like criminals. In those days, being a democrat meant becoming a victim of a system that feared the ballot box more than the bullet.

I was 22, and my mind was consumed by biology and anatomy. I was determined to become a doctor. I had the merit, but I did not have the "political clearance." I was denied a scholarship under the Colombo Plan simply because I was a "Democrat's daughter." That was my first real...