I really don't know if the CTA is actually instigating the self immolations but they might as well be. We see the levels to which they went to ban the Protector practice, with resolutions, public proclamations and "re-education" programmes that infiltrated monasteries, schools and all other levels of community and even sending people on campaigns to target households, and yet the Protector practice has never driven people to end their lives. And here we have an unhealthy practice of suicide that seems to be gaining momentum and instead of making the same effort, they seem to be waiting for more self immolations, hoping to reap political mileage against China. It has not worked at all.
Based on how CTA has handled the self immolations and how the Dalai Lama has said about the self immolations, it can be easily inferred that the CTA are the one who instigated them. HHDL hinted that by saying that if he condemned the self immolations, it would hurt their families very much. CTA represents the Dalai Lama, and so if HHDL spoke out against the self immolations, it would hurt the families of the self immolators if the CTA told the family members and the self immolator that HHDL would like them to immolate themselves, and then HHDL said it was wrong, it would hurt them a lot. Because both karmapas have already spoken against it and they are not represented by CTA.
